Seeing in Color
by little of this little of that
Summary: When Daryl and Maggie went to find formula they came across a daycare. What if they found more than formula? I have been thinking about this story since I seen that episode. Rated M because I don't want to get in trouble. Strong language.
1. Chapter 1

I'm breaking my promise. I know I said I would probably finish Joslyn Grimes before I started a new story, but this was one of the first stories that popped in my head when I started watching Walking Dead. And ever since someone reviewed on my other story about finding Daryl a soul mate it's been playing in my head even more. So here goes. Let me know what you think please and thank you. And I don't own anything of or related to the Walking Dead.

 **Chapter 1**

It had been nearly eleven months since I had talked to another person, well another adult. I knew cause I had kept track of the days waiting to be rescued, but nothing has came. Well, nothing alive has came. My name is Katie Thomas. I worked at Helping Hands, Happy Heart daycare. It was a hippie daycare. People brought their kids here when they only wanted them to eat organic food and do yoga. I shit you not. Instead of cots we had yoga mats. Our A.M. snack was a fruit and veggie smoothie. If a kid picked a flower, we had to make them apologize to the flower and then bury it.

I guess I shouldn't complain to much. Because of the owners belief that store bought food had poison in them the daycare had its own garden and even a well. That's what saved us, me and Gracie. That and the fact that my boss went through a stage of canning her own vegetables. If we didn't have those jars of food this past winter, we would have died for sure. I know we are going to have to leave soon though, but I don't know where. We've been here for so long. I don't know what the world even looks like anymore. Maybe we can make it to my apartment, but that sounds dumb even to me. I didn't have much food there either. I look over at the sleeping toddler. I'm all she knows. She just turned one when this all started. She'll be two in three weeks. I remember the day I became her mom, or the only one she will ever know anyway.

11 months ago

I was getting ready for work. I put on a pair of jeans and an old t-shirt that I didn't care about getting messed up. I learned not to where nice things when working with kids. They have no qualms about spitting up, rubbing nasty muddy hands, or sneezing on you. They also yank on any jewelry you have, but that doesn't stop me from wearing the necklace with my mom and dad's wedding rings on it. I never leave home without it.

My dad died before I was born, but mom told me so many stories it's like I knew him. He was a police officer he was gunned down in a routine traffic stop. The guy had a suspended license and no insurance. He didn't want to get in trouble so he killed a cop instead. That's what the newspaper clippings I found say. I never understood how that logically made sense to anyone. Because of that stupidity I never met my dad.

My mom died last year from skin cancer. It was fast and aggressive. She never remarried or even dated. I asked her why once and she told me that once you meet that person you are supposed to spend the rest of you life with there's no point in looking for anyone else. She said its a dull comparison. Like watching black and white movies they were great, but the minute you see a movie in color you don't want to go back to seeing black and white again. I'm happy with the knowledge that they are together again.

I grab a bottled water and wait for my taxi. My damn car decided to break down again so now I have to shell out thirty bucks for a taxi to get to work. I would turn on the TV, but I know they will just be covering that stupid flu that's going around.

I look in the mirror that's by my front door. I'm pretty average looking I have dark brown eyebrows That match my waist length pin straight hair. I have pale blue eyes and rosy rounded cheeks that constantly make me only younger than what I am. I'm twenty-two, but I look about seventeen. I don't wear much makeup, only on those rare occasions when I went out and acted my age. I didn't have anyone to impress so there was no point.

I hear a honk and grab my purse. I head out of my small one-bedroom apartment locking the door on the way out. I jog down the steps and hurry to the waiting taxi. When I get in I tell the driver the address. I quickly get engrossed in scrolling through Facebook. I'm taking a quiz on which celebrity is my soul mate when we pull up to the daycare. I hand the driver my money and head inside.

I clock-in and go to the baby room. That's where I work. I have four kids that are in my group. A set of twin boys that are three months old named Bradley and Stewart, they were going to have a hard time in school I could already tell. Then I had a little six month old girl who was showing signs of being a biter which was just lovely. Her name, I kid you not, was Sweetness. I have no clue what her parents were thinking. Then I have my little Gracie she had just turned one last week. When I started working here she was only four weeks old and we just clicked. She cried when anyone else tried to feed her and she absolutely hated the owner Mary. Whenever she came in Gracie cried and hid, I didn't blame her. I wanted to do the same thing.

I started straightening up my room, why I don't know. It would be destroyed in less then thirty minutes when the kids showed up. I get the twins and Sweetness's bottles from the kitchen and say hi to Cindy who works with the three year olds, and God love her cause those kids were crazy. I had to sub for her one day and I was ready to cry at the end of the day. I grab a bowl and spoon so I would be able to feed Sweetness her baby food when she arrived.

"Have you been watching the news? That flus getting worse. I talked to my mom up in Maine and she said her neighbor has it. Her husband drove her up to the hospital last night and she hasn't heard anything else," Cindy says biting her lip. I shake my head.

"It's just like the swine flu and whatever else before that. They make you think it's so bad, then everyone rushes to get vaccines. Then all of a sudden no one's talking about it. Its like it never happened," I say.

"Well I hope you're right, because from what I've seen and heard…it's really bad."

"Trust me. Think about it, every year we have some highly contagious virus go around and then a month or two later no one has it anymore."

"What are we talking about," Leslie another co-worker, who also works in the baby room, says as she comes in to the kitchen.

"Just talking about that flu going around," I say. I hate Leslie she constantly leaves our room and I end up watching her kids and mine. And I have it on good authority that she is sleeping with Mary's husband. That authority is me. I walked in on them when we were having a Christmas party. It was gross he's a good twenty years older.

By ten in the morning all of my kids were here. I had to give Gracie a bath, as usual, she always came in dirty so I would bathe her in the sink. She was always hungry so I always made sure I had snacks near by when she came in. I fixed her hair in little pony tails, because her mother failed to even brush it. And at the end of the day her mom doesn't say anything. No thank you for doing her job or anything, but I didn't care. Cause as long as Gracie was here I knew she was being taken care of. I worried on the weekends.

I'm sitting on the floor about to feed Sweetness when a choir of cell phones do that loud emergency noise. I assume it's an Amber alert, but Cindy rushes in.

"Oh my god, they're evacuating the state. We need to call parents," she says in a rushed panicked voice an hour later we only have three kids left. I tell Cindy to go ahead and leave. She has a boyfriend with a kid she needs to get too.

"Are you sure," she asks, but she's already grabbing her stuff.

"Yeah I'm positive. I'll wait till they get picked up." She nods.

"If you need me just call. Ok? Me and Brad will come back and get you," she looks at me and I smile and nod.

"Be careful Katie," she says. I hear her car start up a few minutes later.

About twenty minutes afterward I'm left with only Gracie. The two other mothers running in and apologizing profusely saying traffic was horrible. I try and call Gracie's mom again, but no answer. Finally, around five I decide to call Cindy and tell her what's happening and ask what I should do, but my phone isn't working. I go to the landline we have, but that's not working either. I'm stuck. I look at Gracie and decide that if it comes to it we could spend the night here. I didn't want her mom to show up then me get in trouble for kidnapping or something.

It did come to it. Gracie never cried for her mom. Instead she started calling me mom and I never corrected her. The first time I seen one of those things was about a week afterward. Gracie was quietly playing with some toys and I peeked out the window and seen a man walking by. I ran out the front door.

"Hey, sir excuse me. I have a kid with me can you help us," I called out. He slowly turned something about the way he moved was off to me. Then I seen his leg was oddly bent as if it was broken. When he faced me his face was covered in blood. "Oh my gosh. Do you need help," I ask. I only have basic first aid knowledge. Then this guy started coming at me pretty fast, but not quite running. I reach out to help him when this ungodly smell reached my nose. Then this man tried to attack me. He was trying to bite me and I was holding him back with my arms. I noticed he had bullet holes all over his body and his face looked like a rotting corpse. I have no idea when I finally realized he _was_ a rotting corpse. I was becoming tired he was so strong. Then we fell and his head hit the cement step and he stopped fighting. When I looked down I realized we was dead. I turned and puked next to the porch.

I went back inside and locked the door. Gracie was standing there with tears in her eyes I guess she thought I left. I picked her up and she locked her arms and legs around me. I went around and pulled very shade down and we were thrown into darkness.

The next time I seen one of those things was when I had Gracie outside. It was about a month after the first one. I was getting some vegetables out of the garden and Gracie was playing on the playground equipment we had. Then all of a sudden two of them were there. I don't know how they got in there. All I know is they were going after Gracie. So I picked up the gardening hoe and ran. I killed them both. I picked Gracie up and got the few vegetables I had managed to pick and went inside.

After that I was always very careful when I went outside. I taught Gracie that if I said hide she went and got into the kitchen cabinet until I said "ok Gracie no more hiding" it was surprisingly easy to teach her. So every time I had to go pick vegetables I said "hide" and I knew she was safe then when I came back in I would tell her no more hiding and she would come out.

That winter was tough we had all the blankets the center had plus and extra clothes all shoved in one little closet where we slept. I figured insulation plus body heat in a small space would keep us warm, it worked. Of cause I didn't have extra clothes, but luckily we had some for the kids. So Gracie was able to wear clothes that fit. Meanwhile I washed my clothes every three days and wore Cindy's jacket she had left here while they dried. It got me like a dress since Cindy was bigger than me.

Present day

We were going to have to leave. There was no way we could survive this winter here. Almost all of our food was gone and I didn't know how to can food. I have no idea how many of those things are out there or if there is anyone alive besides me and Gracie. I bite my lip. I have to think through my options. My decisions can get Gracie killed.

All of a sudden I hear glass break. Gracie sits up fast, not used to hearing sounds.

"Hide Gracie," I say. And we both run to the kitchen and hide in the cabinet. Gracie looks at me like she's wondering why I'm hiding with her, but she blessedly remains quiet. I hear footsteps. And then I hear the door open. I guess I unconsciously tried to push myself back, but it causes me to bump my head loudly against the wall. Then the door is roughly pulled open and there's this man with a crossbow in my face and a pretty brown haired woman standing in front of me. I throw my hands up in surrender.

"Don't shoot. Please," I beg. The man lowers his weapon. The man looks at the woman and she looks just as shocked as I am.

"No more hiding," Gracie questions. They both turn to look at me sharply.

"Please don't hurt us," I beg. The woman is staring at Gracie, but the man with the crossbow never takes his eyes off me. I glance and see the woman holding a can of formula. I see my chance to save us and I take it.

"You have a baby. I can help. I used to work here I know where there's more. I can help you, if you help us. We need somewhere safe to stay. We can't survive another winter here. Please! I'll give you anything just help me find a safe place for her," I plead. I know the site I must make. My filthy face and greasy hair. My clothes are barely holding on. And Gracie is only slightly better. The man and woman look at each other speaking without words.

"Please don't leave us here to die," I say. Then the man looks at me and I can tell I won. He wasn't going to leave us.

"Fine, but I only have a motorcycle. So, we're going to have to figure out how to so this." I honestly didn't hear anything past fine. I saved Gracie and that's all I cared about.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey, I already have a favorite and an alert on this story! Don't worry I haven't forgotten Joslyn Grimes will be getting an update today as well. Leave me a review and let me know what you think please. I know the title is kind of lame, but I couldn't think of one if you have any better suggestions let me know. As always I don't own anything affiliated with Walking Dead.

 **Chapter 2**

I decided to let Maggie and Daryl take Gracie. They finally told me their names after a little coaxing. Letting them take Gracie was the hardest thing I had to do. She sat between Daryl and Maggie on the motorcycle. I was going to stay here and gather all of the things I can and then Daryl was going to come back with a car and get me.

I just let them take Gracie. Oh my gosh, I know nothing about these people and I let them take a little girl who's the only family I have. Does that make me a horrible person? What happens if they don't come back? I didn't even ask where they came from. What if I never see Gracie again?

The whole time I'm having my internal panic attack, I'm going around and gathering things. I had folded up two playpens and gathered the twenty or so blankets, ten receiving blankets, a couple bibs, a unopened package of two bottles, all the extra clothes we had, a couple packages of diapers, and twelve jars of baby food. Then I went out to the storage building where we had the gardening stuff we also had three extra cans of formula and another package of diapers. I grabbed those along with the shovel and gardening hoe.

Then I sit by my pile of goods and wait. While I say there I decide to break down a bouncer and add that to the pile along with the chalk, crayons and play dough. I wonder if they need the empty mason jars for anything. I'll let them be the judge. I also grab a mobile.

The longer I sit here the more I wanted to add, but I refrained instead I found an empty diaper bag and put the formula and diapers in it and the baby food. I then took one of the blankets and placed everything else in it and wrapped it up. All the other blankets and clothes were neatly folded sitting by the two folded up playpens. I stopped and decided to go into the bathroom and see what medicine we had left. It was a random selection of children's cough and cold and teething tablets. There was some other stuff for fever in there. I decide to take the basket of medicine and add it to my growing pile.

I stop moving when I hear a car and I peek through a window breathing a sigh of relief. It was Daryl along with some Asian guy. I swing the front door open and they jump back startled.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to startle you. Its just I was having a mental meltdown wondering if you would come back and whether or not I was a horrible person for letting strangers take Gracie. And then I kept going around in circles wondering what the baby needs. I also don't know how old the baby is, so I didn't know what sizes of the clothes I should get or what toys. So I tried to grab as many as I could, but you guys can tell me no and not bring it. Although, in my opinion we really should take all of it. And do you think you could use these mason jars," I say grabbing one. Everything was said in such a rush. I think they were surprised I actually stopped to let them answer.

"Uh I'm sorry what was that," the Asian guy said. Daryl's eyebrows had disappeared into his hair. I blush and stutter. I clear my throat.

"Sorry I guess I'm a little over excited about having an adult to talk with," I say looking at the floor. The Asian guy smiles.

"Well Maggie said something about a garden and her dad wanted us to bring some of the plants back for us to replant. By the way I'm Glenn," he says.

"Katie. And yes, its around back," I say. I show him where it is and he begins to dig up the tomato and cucumbers. Daryl had started loading the stuff I had set by the door. He didn't even glance at it.

"Aren't you going to look to see if we actually need this stuff," I say. A bit upset he's not looking to see what I'm bringing to the table. He stops and looks at me.

"Don't ya work with kids? Figured you know what they need more than me. We can always use the blankets. I'm not gonna dig around after you seem to have put so much work in organizing it," he says then bends down and finishes putting the rest in the back of the car. It barely took a quarter of the space in the back. Well that's disappointing. I thought for sure it would be a carload. I turn around and grab a few of Gracie's favorite books and put them in the car. Daryl went to help Glenn dig up some of the plants. We didn't have a huge variety just cucumbers, strawberries, tomatoes, lettuce and potatoes. We have an Apple and peach tree, but they are to big to dig up. Daryl picks a few of each.

"Alright I think we got enough for the old man to start his garden," Daryl says. Glenn nods.

I give them some plastic bags to put the plants in and the loose vegetables and fruit they picked, which wasn't much cause they were starting to wither away. We get in the car and head off to an unknown destination. I'm trying not to explode and have word vomit again, but it's so hard. I realize we're going by my old apartment.

"Hey? I don't want to be a pest, but you think we can stop there," I say pointing to the building. "It's just, I used to live there and I can get some clothes. I feel like a cartoon character that can't ever change clothes." Glenn laughs, but looks at Daryl.

"I mean we could look though some of the apartments. We don't have to go in the apartment building itself. We can knock on the doors to see if any walkers are in them and if they are just leave that door closed," Glenn says to Daryl. Daryl looks out the window.

"We have a little time, but we'll have to come back at another time to really look," he says pulling into the parking lot.

"Walkers?"

"The living dead that's been walking around. Don't tell me ya haven't seen one," Daryl says.

"No, I have. Just didn't have a name for them," I say.

We climb the steps and I reach the door then stop. I start laughing.

"Hey, girl, what's wrong? You finally cracked," Daryl says. I shake my head.

"I forgot my keys. They're still sitting there on the kitchen counter at the daycare. I think I have a spare though." I run my hand across the door frame and find what I'm looking for.

"Stupid place to put it. Might as well buy a welcome mat and put it under it. First place Merle or I looked was under the mat and on the door frame," Daryl says.

"So you broke into houses before all this," I say as I unlock the door. There's an unmistakable smell of stale air. I leave the door open and go straight to my bedroom.

"If you see anything you need, take it," I call behind me as I continue to walk down the hall. "There's sheets and blankets in the hall closet," I add as I walk by it.

When I reach my room its like Christmas. I go to my closet and pull out my suitcase and duffel bag. Then I walk over to my underwear drawer and just put my hands on it. I had to say goodbye to my pair about a couple months ago and I have been dreaming about my drawer full of underwear ever since. I scoop up the entire drawer and put all of them in my bag and do the same with my sock and bra drawers. I put my jeans and sweats in and all of my practical shirts both for warm and cold weather. I change my flats I had with me to a pair of tennis shoes and pack the three other pairs and two pairs of boots I have. Any flats, flip flops or heels got left.

When all that's left hanging up is some dresses, skirts and dressy shirts I zip my suitcase up. Then I go into my bathroom and grab my toothbrush, oh my beloved toothbrush, along with my tube and a half of toothpaste. I get all of my shower stuff along with my brush and any tampons I had under the sink. Lets just say I admire the women who went though periods without any, cause that's a hell I never want to go through again. I also grab the two rolls of toilet paper that I had. I put it all in the duffel bag. Then I go and strip my bed and get my pillows and blanket and I'm ready to go. I hook the strap of the duffel over the suitcase handle and carry all of my bedding wrapped in my comforter over my shoulder and wheel out my suitcase. I'm going down the hall when I spot my mom and dad's wedding picture I grab it and stuff it in the duffel and continue.

"Damn girl, you hardly have any food in here. Did ya live off ramen? There's two cases along with a few cans of soup. We already took the twelve bottles of water that you had to the car and all of the blankets as well. I guess we can say you kept us warm," Daryl says going though cabinets and taking random pans out.

"Sorry, the end of the world caught me before I went grocery shopping and there's some more bottles of water in the fridge," I say a bit defensively. Daryl eyes the fridge like it will bite him.

"I ain't opening that until we are about to leave," he states. "And if I didn't know there was water in it I wouldn't even bother it," he adds as an after thought. I look at him confused. He stares back. "Ya ever smell a years worth of rotten food? Cause I can tell ya a week without power it's enough ta knock ya out. Any longer, you're just punishing yaself." Glenn and Daryl load my things in the seat next to where I'm going to be sitting. And then Daryl ties some fabric around his face. He opens the fridge and grabs the seven bottles of water I had in there then slams it closed and runs out like there's a ticking bomb. I quietly close the door and lock it. I don't know why I locked it, but I did. I debate on whether to put the key back where I had it or keep it. I decide to place it back on the ledge. Then I walk to the car where Daryl and Glenn are waiting.

I look around the car. I feel like I contributed a lot. Although, my suitcase is taking up most of the room. I did get quite a bit for the baby. I can't wait to see Gracie. Seeing her every second of everyday for nearly a year and then all of a sudden not seeing her is strange, almost as if I'm missing a limb. I wonder what the place looks like and how many people live there. It had to be some military protected town, but neither Glenn nor Daryl seemed military to me. Maybe Maggie, but that didn't seem likely either.

We finally turn down a road and I look in front of us. There's not tanks and military patrols like I was picturing. Instead there's a huge seemingly empty prison.

"Yep. Gotta problem with that," Daryl asks. I must have said that aloud. I decide to be honest.

"It's not what I was picturing. Wait, was this the prison you were in? There isn't still prisoners in there is there? Like there aren't any rapist or child molesters, right?" Daryl looks at me and Glenn has turned a bright red and looks like he's trying not to laugh.

"Girl, I have never been in prison! And there are two prisoners still alive, but they're ok, minor stuff," he glares at me. "Why'd ya think I was in prison for?"

"Well you made the comment about breaking into houses. I just assumed," I shrug. Glenn burst out laughing and I smile at him we pull all the way up to the prison doors I didn't even notice that someone had opened the gate for us. When the car comes to a stop I hop out.

"Where is she? Where's Gracie," I say, but before I could even finish asking Maggie comes out holding her. She's squirming and trying to get out of Maggie's arms.

"Gracie!" She stops and sees me then redoubles her effort in trying to get free. Maggie sets her down and she runs to me. I pick her up and hold her to me and I'm home.

Authors note: ok this chapter may suck. This story doesn't seem as easy to write as Joslyn is, but in trying. I might push the governor back a bit. Seeing as they aren't in an immediate need of baby stuff, which means Glenn and Maggie won't need to go on that particular run so soon. Anyway review of you can please.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

As soon as we enter the prison, the sound of a baby crying penetrates our ears.

"My God it's got a good set of lungs thats for sure," I say. I have Gracie on my hip and I'm dragging my suit case behind me. "Has the baby been fed?" A frazzled young blonde turns to me.

"If course she has! As soon as they came back with the formula, we fed her," she answers.

"How much? And did you burp her often," I ask setting Gracie down and leaving my suit case. I walk towards the teen with the baby. She immediately pulls her protectively away. "I'm not going to hurt her. Let me try something," Daryl walks by with some of the blankets I brought. I grab a receiving blanket off the top and place it over my shoulder. The young girl reluctantly hands her over. I place her in my shoulder and start patting her back.

"Is this your first," I ask.

"She's not mine. We, uh, her mother didn't make it," she stumbles out glancing at a boy that was a few years younger than her. I stop bouncing and patting the baby.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I say and then continue with burping the baby. She lets out a huge burp then spits up all down my back.

"Lovely. I didn't like that shirt either, but there are other ways to let your dislike be known," I say to the baby. Some of the adults let out a weak chuckle. I pass the baby back to the girl.

"I think you fed her to much. Start out at four ounces try and burp her every ounce, or at least every two, and was the bottle cold? Sometimes it needs to be warned up a bit. Although, that would be pretty hard to do without electricity. Damn, I really miss microwaves. Hey, Daryl you did bring that ramen, cause some processed noodles sound so good right now. Right after a bath. You guys do have some where Gracie and I can bathe right?" Everyone just looks at me. Glenn clears his throat.

"You get used to the word vomit. Trust me," he turns to me, "and yes we have somewhere for you guys to bathe. Follow me."

"Hold on, I have to get clothes for Gracie," I say going where Daryl disappeared with all of our stuff.

"What's in the suit case if Daryl has your clothes," an older gray haired lady ask. Looking a little upset. I probably look confused.

"My clothes," I say. It comes out like a question. Now the older lady looks angry.

"You have a suit case full of clothes, but you have none for your daughter," she screeches.

"She's not her daughter," Daryl says coming out of a cell.

"She's not," she says confused.

"Actually she is, but she wasn't before all this. I don't know what happened to her birth mom. Either she died at the very beginning or she left her. Either way she never came to get her. She wasn't much of a mom to begin with, but regardless she's mine now," I say offhandedly. Then I go and grab some clothes that will fit Gracie's petite frame. Hopefully with some actual food she'll gain some of that toddler fat she used to have. No one has said a word since I told them about Gracie.

Glenn leads us to where we can bathe. I scrub Gracie down from head-to-toe. You can actually tell she has blonde hair again. I had to dump the water twice to get her all clean she looks like a little doll. Then I get more water and scrub myself I had to dump mine four times. I washed my hair three times luckily I had detangle shampoo and conditioner, because my hair was so long it tangled easily, so after our baths our hair was very easily brushed.

Putting on clean clothes felt like heaven. I looked at Gracie and her eyes were droopy. Yeah being clean for the first time in months will make you tired, but I was bound to eat something before we slept. When we go back into the main area everyone stops talking and stares.

"What," I say placing a hand on Gracie and pulling her closer to me. I lock eyes with Daryl he's the only one that's not looking at me like I have sprouted another head. Then the older lady steps forward.

"Sorry we just didn't expect a person to be under all that hair and dirt," she looks down at Gracie, "well aren't you a cutie. My name's Carol."

"I'm Katie and this is Gracie, but you already know that. I think maybe I should learn everyone's name. It would help tremendously," I say. Carol nods.

"Ok well you know Daryl, Glenn, and Maggie. The blonde girl over there is Beth, Maggie's sister, the boy standing next her is Carl, the babies big brother, the older man is Herschel, Beth and Maggie's father, and the man with the 70s mustache," "hey" "is Axel and the bald man beside him is Oscar. We had more, but, well it's how the world is now," she finishes subdued. "How many were in your group, you know before you made it here?"

"Um its always been me and Gracie since the evacuation. Speaking of, how come you guys aren't in Atlanta? Isn't safer there," I say to a stunned group.

"Ya don't know nothing do ya girl," Daryl says, "Ya really were at that daycare the whole time?"

"Yes," I say offended, "why would I lie? And I know quite a lot. Like I know if there's a refugee center that would be the safest place to be."

"There ain't no refugee center. Never was as far as I know," Daryl says, " Here we made you and the kid some of that damn ramen. Sit down and eat and we'll tell ya all about it," he says offering me two bowls. I notice they're some of mine. I didn't realize they grabbed that kind of stuff.

"You must have been very good at stealing stuff from the houses you broke into Daryl, I didn't even notice you grabbed these," I say holding the bowls up. Glenn chokes and then cracks up. Daryl looks stunned.

"I ain't know thief, girl," he says offended.

"But you said you broke into houses," I say confused.

"Didn't ya ever do something rebellious when you were younger? Or were you always a stuck up bitch," he says and I'm sure he meant to offend me, but I wasn't. He was honest and I liked that.

"No, I didn't do anything too crazy, but I wasn't stuck up either. Somewhere in between I think," I say. He raises one eyebrow I think I surprised him by not rising to his bait. "Now tell me about Atlanta," I say sitting down by Gracie as we tucked into our bowl of warm noodles. As we eat Daryl, along with some help from the others, tells me all about their journey. They really have lost a lot. Poor Carol to lose a child is an awful thing.

My eyes begin to get heavier and heavier. Being clean, fed, and safe I'm beginning to let sleep take me away. I glance down and see Gracie is already out. I try to ask where we can sleep, but my mouth and brain seem to be fighting against each other. All I get out is a bunch of mumbled set of sounds, then I feel like I'm flying. I realize I'm being carried, by who I don't know.

"Damn girl, ya lighter than a feather," oh it's Daryl.

"Graccciee," I manage to get out.

"Yeah Glenn's got her. He's behind us," I nod. That's the last thing I remember.

Authors note: no she's not drugged she's spent nearly a year having the sole company of a one year old and sleeping with one eye open. I think anyone would be beyond exhausted. Also I think she got used to just saying anything that came to her mind, but not having anyone say anything. Gracie isn't quite two and most kids don't start actually talking till then, or at least talking in sentences. Anyway let me know what you think. I love reviews!


	4. Chapter 4

I've had a lot of people favoriting this story and following thank you guys! Sadly, still no reviews and I'm greedy I want it all! Lol but I'm good…for now. Sorry I haven't updated sooner. I'm trying to wrap up the first installment of Joslyn Grimes and when I write this story I can't hop back to Joslyn. Mostly cause they are two completely different characters and once I get into Katie's mind it's hard to go back to Joslyn. Now, if I do Joslyn's first then it's a lot easier to go over to Katie's. Well on with the story. I checked my bank account it still shows I don't own anything of Walking Dead.

 **Chapter 4**

I woke up dizzy, achy and disoriented. I bolt up in bed and promptly hit my head on something. I look up and realize I'm in a bunk bed. Then I remember I'm not at the daycare I'm in a prison. There's no refugee camp and we're living in an everyone fend for yourself type world.

I glance around and see my suitcase and duffel bag sitting in the corner, but no Gracie. I get out of bed to go look for her, but my legs are shaky and I'm still a little dizzy. Someone comes in, it's the older lady, Carol I think.

"What's wrong with me," I say.

"Well, you've been asleep nearly twenty-right hours. We kept making sure you were breathing. I guess between sleeping so long and not a proper diet, it has just made you a bit shaky," she says helping me sit back down.

"Gracie?"

"She's fine. Kids are resilient. We did have to newly pry her off you though. She's with Beth and Carl, coloring I believe. And sorry to say, I don't think she's ever going to get to play with that play dough. Glenn has commandeered it and won't let anyone else play with it. He's having too much fun," she says. I nod along, but honestly I couldn't follow after she told me Gracie was fine. Its like there's a fog over my mind.

"If I slept for so long why am I still tired," I ask fighting a yawn. She smiles kindly at me.

"You were able to completely relax for the first time in close to a year. Don't beat yourself up everyone could see you needed it," she says. I nod and she offers to help me get up and dressed, but I decline.

"If I feel like I'm going down I'll yell for you," I say with a smile. She nods.

"I won't be far." I slowly stand. My back aches as do my legs. I must not have moved at all and that mattress sucks. I always hated when people complained about how poorly prisoners had it. My thoughts were always don't do the crime If you don't want to do the time, but man, if I knew I would have to be sleeping in a prison I would have started a campaign about getting some temperpedic mattresses or something. I slowly get dressed and brush my teeth with the bottled water sitting by the sink. My arms feel heavy I'm gonna have to ask Carol to brush my hair.

"Carol," I call out. She pops her head around the corner. I hold my brush up.

"You think you can brush my hair and possibly braid it," I ask. She smiles and walks in.

"I can brush it for you, but the most I can do is put it in a ponytail. I was never good with hair. It's why I always kept mine short, even Sofia's was short," she swallows hard and I remember Sofia was her daughter that died a few months back. She shakes off the thought " But, clearly you don't like short hair. You might need to cut it. It being so long could be a real hazard." She has a point it was past my butt now.

"My mom liked my hair long and when she got diagnosed with cancer she loved it even more. I haven't been able to cut it, because I knew it would break her heart," I say. Carol stops brushing and she squeezes my shoulder.

"I think she would understand, but keep it as long as you need to," she says. I nod. After she brushes through all of my hair I give her one of the extra strong hair ties I grabbed from home. She throws it up in a high ponytail it still reaches a little past my mid-back. I'm wearing a thin gray long sleeved t-shirt with a pair of jeans and my gray and pink running shoes. I used to be able to pull this outfit off, but I had lost so much weight it was all baggy on me. Carol must of noticed my look of disgust.

"Don't worry you'll start putting weight back on, but I think for now we need to stick to giving you and Gracie broths until your stomach can handle more," she says. I look at her.

"Carol, the way you guys talked, my life is not a guarantee. I can get bit today, tomorrow, next week, or die of old age and still come back as one of those things. I'll be damned if my last meal is broth. I'll take a cramping stomach happily if it means I ate real food," I say dead serious. Carol looks at me for a moment then throws her head back and laughs.

We climb down the steps. My balance is better, but my eyes feel like they're swimming if a turn my head to fast and I'm still achy, but I'm not gonna complain. Last thing I want is for them to think I'm a complainer.

Gracie sees me first and propels her little body toward me. I stoop down and hug her, but I end up having to sit on the floor. Note to self never sleep longer than eight hours again. Gracie leads me to a table were she has her crayons and paper and makes me sit down. Then she climbs in my lap and continues to color. I look around and see Glenn completely absorbed in play dough. I have to chuckle. He's like a little kid. I look and see Daryl staring at Glenn with a mixture of confusion and amusement. Maggie keeps trying to take some play dough, but Glenn keeps slapping her hand away. She laughs and gives up. Beth is holding the baby, I can't remember her name.

"What's the baby's name again? I can't remember," I say.

"Asskicker."

"She doesn't have one yet." Daryl and Carol say at the same time. Then Carol mock glares at Daryl, "Her name is not Asskicker, nor will it be." I smile at that. Then I notice the older man, Beth and Maggie's father, I must have really been out of it because I don't remember him only having one leg.

"What happened to your leg?" Oh my gosh, just shoot me. "I'm sorry it's none of my business. It was rude to ask. I guess I have been around kids too long. You know kids can be awfully blunt. And I suppose I took that trait. Its not a good thing to have cause you can accidently hurt someone's feelings. Like one time I had this kid who asked me what that red spot on my face was. It was a pimple everyone told me it wasn't that noticeable, but a three year old seen it! But on the other hand I think it's good to be honest and straight forward don't you," I say in one breathe. Everyone stares at me. Herschel seems amused.

"I got bit Rick, our leader of sorts, cut it off. He saved my life, but something you said reminds me. Now, tell me if I'm being rude, but I'm curious how old are you," he asks.

"Lets see I was twenty-two the day this all started, but I had a birthday so twenty-three. Why?"

"I would have put you at nineteen at the most," Glenn says. I roll my eyes.

"Yeah, I always looked younger than what I am. I'll appreciate it when I'm older. Well, _if_ I get older," I say. Herschel looks at me seriously.

"You will," he says. Just then there's a loud commotion and I see a young boy, Carl, bring in five people. One looks dead though. I grab Gracie and back away. Everyone kind of looks shocked.

After everything settled down. They dealt with the dead woman and Glenn and Maggie gave them shovels to dig a grave, which I think is odd cause they had locked them in when they first arrived, but then they're ok about giving them shovels.

There was a brother and sister named Tyreese and Sasha, and a father and son I didn't care for so I didn't learn their names. The father had a beady look in his eye. Yes, he just lost his wife, but he reminded me of a criminal casing the joint before he robbed the place blind.

A filthy looking man walked in, but stopped when he seen all the new people, this must be Rick. I bounce over to him even though he looked a little intimidating.

"Hi, I'm Katie and that cute blonde over there is Gracie. I just want to say thank you for saving us. We would have died in that daycare for sure if Daryl and Maggie hadn't found us. I also was able to give you guys some plants so you can start your own garden. I don't know where they put them, but I think Herschel knows what to do. He was a farmer after all, but you know that. I can help with watching the baby. I know all about kids. I promise I won't be a burden, but me and Gracie really need to stay here. We can't survive out there. I have no idea how. I understand it's all up to you and you have a lot on your plate, but I really need this place for Gracie at least. Will you let us stay?" When will I go back to normal and not just blurt out every thought that comes to mind? Gosh I probably just lost my spot. He's gonna kick me out for being annoying. Rick looks at me then the other people. The back at Herschel. Herschel does a single quick nod.

"Fine you and your group can stay," he turns and leaves. I guess he assumed I was with Tyreese and Sasha's group. Oh well as long as Gracie and I can stay than I'm happy.

"Wait, Rick," I call out but he's already gone. I turn and look at Herschel. "He didn't even ask about his kids."

"He's going through a rough time right now," he says.

"Well, from what you told me all of you have, but he's a dad. He should be more concerned for his kids. He's being kind of selfish," I say.

"Hey, Rapunzel, you don't know nothing about Rick to be judging him," Daryl say angrily. I glare at him.

"I know that you don't know where your brother is, Glenn has sister's somewhere he doesn't know if they are ok, Maggie and Beth lost a brother and mother, Herschel lost a wife, Carol lost a daughter, and Carl lost his mother. I don't see you guys losing your shit. He needs to be a dad. He can still grieve and be a good father," I say. Everyone looks stunned. Sasha looks impressed, but I keep my eyes on Daryl. "Everyone has lost someone, but if you have people relying on you, you can't lose it like that," I finish. "Its late and despite my coma like sleep I'm still tired. So Gracie and I are going to bed. Goodnight," I say with a wave of my hand. I pick Gracie up and carry her up the stairs and quickly change into a baggy t-shirt and some shorts. I put Gracie in one of my shirts, it looks like a night grown on her small body. We cuddle up on the small bed and quickly fall asleep.

Authors note: ok so I realize this chapter is kind of short, but I needed to bring Rick in. And yes Katie talks a lot, well, babbles really, but she hasn't really had anyone to talk to in a long time. She'll get better. And no governor or Woodbury yet. That's all getting pushed back thanks to Katie and her baby things she brought. I really couldn't remember the father and sons name and I was too lazy to look it up. Don't worry Michonne will be in this story. She just gets introduced a bit later. Hope you guys like the chapter! Review please!


	5. Chapter 5

Ladies and gentleman may I have your attention puleeeeaase. (you got to sing it like the kid from Sweeney Todd) anyway I got some reviews for this story and I'm so happy! So thank you Hermioneandmarcus I hope you continue to like it. And thank you DJinTheHOUse I think Katie is so easy to write because whatever she thinks just spews out and she doesn't try to be delicate, exactly like a child lol. I, myself, find it endearing, but I know some people might find it annoying. I like her though. Anyway, I might not update in the next few days cause I'm going to try and finish the first installment of Joslyn Grimes, then focus more on this one. So, hold tight. I don't own Walking Dead or anything.

 **Chapter 5**

 **One month later**

In the weeks that's came, we got into a routine of sorts. Herschel got better on one leg and Rick started coming around more in the last couple weeks. Gracie is flourishing, her favorite thing to do is help Beth with Judith, Carl finally named her and Rick agreed. Daryl had still not said my name once. He calls me girl or Rapunzel, but more in an endearing way. Although, I did have to cut my hair. It was still long, but instead of it going past my butt it was just to my mid-back. It became necessary to cut when I was walking by the fence and a walker reached inside and grabbed it. Daryl shot it and looked me over. Then turned and walked away. I had Carol cut it that night. I cried it's stupid, but I did. My head felt lighter though.

I was nervous around Axel and Oscar at first not really knowing what they were in prison for, but I soon found out Daryl was right about them being pretty harmless. Tyreese and Sasha were a laugh. Sasha constantly picked on her big brother Ty. He was good natured about it, but I think deep down he was a little embarrassed his little sister was a better shot than him.

Allen and Ben, the other two that came with Sasha and Ty, left in the middle of the night about a week ago. No one knew what to make of it. Daryl wanted to go after them, but Rick talked him out of it. He said if they wanted to be on their own they could. Nothing was missing, no one was hurt. Sasha and Ty weren't even that upset.

It had started to get cold. Herschel put all of the plants that we had gotten in a well insulated room with a window. There was talk of making a green house sometime in the spring. He also planted seeds of the apple and peach that Daryl had picked, but we weren't going to have a tree for a while. Herschel and Glenn spoke about going back to the daycare and digging the small trees up and bringing them here. Ty said he would help if they decided to. Herschel had big plans. He wanted a overflowing garden of vegetables and an orchard of fruit trees. He even jokingly said something about making one of the yards a barn of sorts and if we run across any livestock that we could put them in there.

I was sitting in the guard tower talking to Daryl. Gracie was with Beth. It used to be hard to let her out of my sight, but as I grew to trust everyone here it became easier.

"I don't like it. Them being out there. They could come back and try to hurt us later," Daryl says. He was talking about Allen and Ben, again. I sigh.

"Yes, Daryl."

"Its just a loose end and we need to tie it off or burn it whichever," he says. Biting his thumb nail.

"Yes, Daryl."

"I mean we don't need another Andrew incident," he says. I learned Andrew was another prisoner. He had came back and caused them to lose a man named T-dog and had he not done what he did Lori could still be alive. I sigh.

"Yes, Daryl," I say. He finally cuts his eyes at me.

"You sassing me Rapunzel," he says with a hint of mischief.

"Yes, Daryl," I say with a smile. Daryl and I had become good friends in the short amount of time. Him and Sasha had become my best friends. Sasha and I bonded over being outsiders. Daryl and I were different I followed him around and asked relentless questions about everyone. He finally relented and told me if I kept it to less than a hundred words per hour I could hang out with him. He actually kept track! Right now I was at seventy-six. Which is why I wasn't getting into a big discussion. We had only been up here ten minutes and I was over a third of my limit. He shakes his head and then goes back to his guard duty.

"Daryl, you know you're problem? You always think everyone's either with you or against you. You don't ever think of people in the middle. If they don't want to be in the group, then they must want to destroy it. God forbid someone just want to be out on their own. I mean I don't get it. They were safe here, but honestly I'm relieved. Allen gave me the creeps. Ben was cool though. I'm sad for Carl losing a friend, but in this time family trumps friends. If it was between me and Ty I wouldn't blame Sasha for choosing Ty. Still it was crappy of Allen to take Ben from Carl. They were the only friends each other might ever have, but I say good-riddance, at least to creepy- Allen," I say. Daryl looks at me.

"Woman I think you just went over you're limit, again," he says then starts muttering about who knows what. I smile. Then turn to look at the fence. I stop and stare. Something doesn't look right. The walker with dreads doesn't move like them.

"Daryl."

"I shouldn't be hearing another peep out of ya for another forty minutes," he says.

"Daryl, I think that one's alive," I say pointing.

"What," he says shocked following my finger. He stares.

"Well I'll be damned," he says then sprints down the guard tower, me at his heels.

We make it to the fence where the woman was standing with a few walkers. I don't know how she's not getting torn to shreds.

"You bit," Daryl asks. The women shakes her head. Then makes a shape of a gun with her fingers and points to her bleeding leg. "You know how to use that sword on your back or is it just for show?" She nods her head at his question. The walker beside her starts sniffing the air causing the lady to press a hand to her thigh firmly, trying to cover the smell of her blood. "Ok, I got a knife we can take out a few and work ya way down to the gate over there," Daryl says jerking his head to the left. He turns to me, "Go on up and get Sasha and Rick. We might need them. And don't be slow about it." I turn and run to the prison. I hear the sounds of a knife going into the skulls of walkers.

I catch Rick on his way out. I grab his shoulders and he catches me.

"Katie, everything ok," he asks concerned.

"Daryl, down by the gate there's a woman. She's been shot. He needs you," I say. Then take off to find Sasha not seeing if he listened or not. I find Sasha eating her breakfast. She had the late post last night so was just getting up.

"Sasha, Daryl needs you by the gate. There's a woman," I say and grab her arm. She grabs her rifle on the way out. I didn't realize that everyone that was in the common room heard and decided to follow.

By the time we reach the gate, Daryl and Rick were already getting the women inside. Ty went and picked her up cause she was limping so badly. We got her in the common area and Herschel went to work on cleaning and stitching her leg. Rick asked her questions. Her name was Michonne and she had currently been at a town, a real town, named Woodbury. She said the leader calls himself the Governor.

"A real Jim Jones type. My friend wouldn't leave. I wouldn't have stayed there as long as I did, but I was trying to convince her to leave, that the man was crazy. She wouldn't listen. They let me leave only to send some henchmen after me. That's how I got shot. I stumbled on the prison and thought it looked oddly empty of walkers. Thought I could try my luck," she says wincing as Herschel tied off the stitches.

"Where is this place at? Are they a threat to us," Rick asks. I feel like I'm at a tennis match my head whipping back and forth.

"I wouldn't rule it out. They supposedly found some military men, but when they arrived all were conveniently dead. Killed by walkers. What I found so off were the way their vehicles were riddled with bullet holes. Those men were trained they wouldn't have been such a lousy shot. My theory, the Governor went to them and appeared not to be a threat then shot them all up and took whatever they had." She pauses to let that sink in. "To answer your first question. Its not very far. A day and a halves walk. Maybe a couple hours in a car."

We all let that sink in for a minute. These people were dangerous and they weren't that far from us. I glance over at Gracie sitting next to Beth, who's holding Judith. I bite my lip. I can't let anything happen to them. With out looking away from Gracie I interrupt the groups discussion about what we should do, if anything.

"I'll go in," I say surprising not only me, but everyone else as well.

"You want to say that again Rapunzel cause I'm sure none of us heard you right," Daryl says. When I turn away from Gracie I see him glaring at me.

"No, you heard me right. I'm a female and don't pose a threat. They won't kill me. I can 'stumble' upon it and beg for safety, but I would need someone with me that can case the place while I distract," I say.

"I'll do it," Daryl says not looking away from me. I shake my head.

"No, you're to much of a threat. I need someone who doesn't seem like a threat, but can sneak around. I'm thinking Glenn or Sasha," I say looking over at them.

"I'll go," Sasha says. I think Daryl has something in his eye it appears to be twitching. "I can keep her safe and play the part of weak female and while miss talks-a-lot keeps their eyes on her I'll skull about."

"I don't like it, but it makes the most sense. We'll also have Daryl, Ty and Oscar camp out a little ways and maybe you can sneak out and let them know what you found. I'll come on the fifth day and maybe talk to the Governor depending on what you find," Rick says. "But if you don't get in contact with Daryl by the second day. Then Daryl you send Oscar back to get us and we'll go and rip the walls off that place and get you two out," he adds. I nod. I walk up to Carol.

"May I speak with you," I say to her. She nods and we go into her cell. Before I even say anything she starts.

"There's no need to ask. Nothing will happen, Daryl will make sure of that," she says smiling at me.

"I need to hear it Carol. I need to know in my head that if anything _did_ happen that you will take care of Gracie," I say.

"Of course I will, but nothing is going to happen," she says determinedly. I nod and hug her.

"Thank you," I say grateful.

Sasha and I pack a bag. Then we decide to go and rub some mud and dirt on us to make it look like we'd been roughing it. Then we made a half-hearted attempt to wipe it off. I went and found my old clothes I wore at the daycare. I kept them for sentimental purposes. I put them on with a disgusted look. Sasha walked in. I looked at her.

"Ok, I don't care anymore after this adventure I'm throwing these out. I don't know why I kept them," I say. Sasha smiles and looks at me.

"But it suits you so well," she says I flip her off. She laughs at me.

"I swear I have washed these, but I still think they could stand on their own," I say pulling at my slightly stiff shirt wrinkling my nose.

"You look like you've been roughing it though," she says impressed.

"Oh, this is nothing. If you had only seen me when Daryl found me. You would have thought I was trying to have my own dreads," I say. She smiles. We head out of my cell.

Daryl is leaning against the wall with his own bag, glaring at the floor.

"Hey what did that poor floor do to you," I say smiling. He snaps his head at me. He doesn't smile.

"It hasn't been an hour yet. I don't want to hear you talk for another fifteen minutes," he says. And for once he didn't say it jokingly. My smile drops and I step forward, but he grabs his bag and walks out.

We had decided to take a car with all of us. Then the guys were gonna drop us off about twenty miles from where Michonne said it was. The distance was determined by Rick and Sasha. They decided that it would be a good distance to walk and help with us looking a little rougher and if they had look outs they would see us traveling alone. I was still a little hurt by Daryl so I was unusually quiet. I was sitting behind him in the car. He was driving. I did notice that he kept glancing back in the review mirror.

When we decided we were close to twenty miles out he pulled over. Sasha and I got out and started walking.

"Katie, hold up," Daryl says. I almost don't stop, not out of anger, but because I didn't realize he was talking to me at first.

"You called me Katie," I say shocked.

"Well it's your name ain't it," he says he rubs the back of his neck self-consciously. "I'm sorry for snapping at ya earlier. It's just I don't like this. It feels off. And I.. I've grown used to ya. So don't get hurt or dead, because Gracie needs ya," he says awkwardly. I smile.

"Don't worry Daryl I'll be back to annoying you in no time. And I think when I get back we're renegotiating my limit. Its only fair," I say. He smiles and nods.

"Alright, be careful maybe we'll get lucky and you'll talk em to death," he says with a smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes.

"And if I do need you to get us out I know that you are very good at breaking and entering. So you should have no problem stealing us away," I say. He shakes his head.

"Stop it," he gets serious, "Promise you'll be smart about this."

"I promise. You be careful as well," I say hiking my bag higher up on my shoulder. I turn around to find Sasha with an amused smirk on her face.

"What," I say. She shakes her head and we both start walking.

"I think Daryl has a little crush," she says.

"What? On who," I ask. I look over and she has one eyebrow raised. "What? Me? No, he thinks I talk too much. He doesn't like me like that. He just feels very protective of the group and he hardly knows me. He just wants to make sure I'm ok for Gracie. He doesn't want to lose anyone, that's all. Yeah, that's all," I say and look over at Sasha only to find her laughing at me.

"Are you serious? You're the only one he actually spends time with. And I'm talking about quality time, not discussing runs or the group. He's always looking out for you and he was down right pissed you told him he couldn't come with you."

"He's just concerned is all," I say a little less convinced.

"Look, I'm going too and he didn't bite my head off and then call me back to apologize. I'm just saying I think he has a crush, but if you don't see him like that then you don't have to do anything with him." She cuts her eyes at me. I don't say anything. Do I like Daryl as more than a friend? Does he like me? What if I make a move and he doesn't like me and I just embarrass myself and ruin our friendship? I bite my lip. And turn to Sasha.

"What if I do? Like him, I mean, what do I do," I ask. Her eyes get big.

"Oh my God, please don't tell me you're a virgin and I have to have the birds and the bees talk," she says. I roll my eyes.

"I'm not asking how to have sex just how to let him know I was interested. I haven't had a serious boyfriend before," I say Sasha is still looking at me. I roll my eyes. "No. Ok I'm not. My best friend and I decided to lose it together. It was awful. He cried." Sasha glances at me shocked and I quickly explained. "His parents were homophobic and he wanted to see if he was actually gay. Spoiler alert he was. Anyway, I was his beard through high school. Then he came out in college. I got an invite to his and his partners wedding about a month before all this happened. I wonder if their still alive." There's a moment of silence.

"Is that all," she says a little worried. I look at her.

"What," I say.

"Is that all the experience you've had," she's ask. I blush.

"I was busy. I didn't have time for relationships. Then my mom got sick and I didn't want to be around anyone," I say defensively. Sasha shakes her head.

"After all this, I'm going to see to it that you and Daryl stop tiptoeing around each other," she says.

We walk in quiet thought for awhile not really paying attention. The cold wind starts making its presence known, our short lived girl time long forgotten. My teeth start to knock together. Right when I start to think this wasn't a good idea, we find it.

There, in all its glory, was Woodbury. There are people on the wall and they let us in, just like I knew they would. We are quickly ushered in to a house and there's a man.

"Hello, welcome to Woodbury. You two seem to have traveled a far distance," he says. "They call me the Governor. I know, I didn't come up with it, but it's stuck. Do you guys want something hot to drink?" I nod my head enthusiastically. Before either Sasha or I could introduce ourselves the door opens again. I look, out of instinct, and I know we are screwed, cause standing there with a satisfied smirk is Allen. Looks like Rick is going to have to tear this place down to get us.

Authors note: To be honest I did not plan on the time skip, but it was the only thing coming to me. I kept picturing Sasha and Katie walking into Woodbury. I also had there little heart to heart in my head. I was worried it wouldn't make it, but it did. Like I said above I'm going to try and finish my other story this weekend. I'm deviating from the show on the time frame, I know. I have plans in my head of it all coming together though. It's going to be a lot different from here on out. So don't expect it to be exactly like the show. Everything that's happened pre-prison on the show happened in the story, but now it's changing. Let me know what you think please!


	6. Chapter 6

Hello all. Sorry I haven't updated in the past few days, but I finished the first part of my other story. Now, I'm going to try and concentrate on this story. I will start writing the second part to Joslyn Grimes next week for sure. Possibly sooner, but definitely no later. I want to remind you guys that this will be way different than the show. Everybody will still be introduced to the story, but in a different way. Just like Michonne and how Sasha and Ty stayed instead of going to Woodbury. I've got the general plot down. Its just figuring out the details. Alright, enough of the talking let's get to the story!

 **Chapter 6**

"Well, who do we have here," Allen asks the Governor. I dared not look at Sasha. I knew if we acted surprised or shocked we would give ourselves away.

"Two newcomers. Seems they've been out there on their own for awhile," the Governor smiles at us. Ew, I see what Michonne means this guy gives major creep vibes. I look over at Allen and he raises one eyebrow.

"Have they," he asks with a tone that conveys he knows better. I swallow thickly. I look back at the Governor. He's looking at us with suspicion now.

"Do you know them Allen? Are they from that group you came from? The ones that through you out," the Governor asks and I have to forcefully keep my mouth from falling open at the accusation. Allen eyes me steadily and I can't not glare back at him. He gives me a creepy smile.

"No, that one looked familiar for a moment there, but now I see it's not her," he says gesturing to me with his head. We look back at the Governor he doesn't seem like he completely believes it, but smiles none the less.

"Welcome to Woodbury," he says.

 **Daryl's POV**

We decided just to sleep in the car instead of pitching a tent. There was more security then some flimsy tent anyway. I'm in the drivers seat, Ty is in the passenger seat and Oscar is stretched out on the back seat. I stay awake worried about Katie, Sasha can handle herself, but Katie.. She just started with shooting guns. She's not a fighter like everyone else. She got incredibly lucky only having to deal with three walkers before joining us.

I still get angry she told me I couldn't go with her. That's another thing, since when do I listen to some broad. I sigh, and there's the problem. She's not just some silly bimbo. She's Katie. The moment I met her I knew she would be different than everyone else. She kept pestering me, wanting to be friends. I acted like it bothered me, but, truth be told, I enjoyed it. The reason I finally gave in was I was afraid she would stop asking. That and Allen started eyeing her up. I was never happier than when I woke up and his ugly mug wasn't there, but it bothered me that he left like a thief in the middle of the night. I smirk. Thinking about thieves makes me think about Katie.

"What are you smiling about man," Ty says.

"I ain't. I can't get comfortable in this damn car. We shouldn't be here. We should be back home and just ignore this Governor and let him and his town drink the Kool-Aid. Instead of sending two of our own in there," I say irritably. Ty just smirks at me.

"You worried about your woman, Daryl," he says. I look at him sharply.

"She ain't my woman," I say. Ty rolls his eyes.

"Yeah, ok man," he says.

"She ain't," I insist. He looks at me.

"Alright. Good. Cause I've been looking at her and have kind of been wanting to make a move, but didn't want to step on any toes. So, she's fair game, then," he asks. I grit my teeth at the thought of anyone with her. Then Ty starts laughing. "If you could see your face right now."

" Wipe that smirk off your face before I do it for you," I pause and cut my eyes at him. "You really into her, or were ya just being an asshole?" He smiles big at me.

"Nah man. I can say she has a certain appeal, but not my type," he says. I nod.

"Good," I grunt. He chuckles again.

"Not your woman, my ass," he mutters. I choose to ignore him.

"You can't tell me you ain't worried about Sasha," I say. Ty looks at me.

"Of course I am, her and Katie, but I have faith in them. Sasha will get Katie out if they need to muscle their way out and Katie will get Sasha out if they need to talk their way out. They make a good team actually," he says.

"And if neither one of those options work Rick, and you two for that matter, will rip that place down piece by piece. Oh and Daryl stop being a punk-ass and make a move already," Oscar says from the back. He has his arm thrown over his eyes and a smirk on his face. I turn my head to get a better look at him.

"Screw ya both," I say. They both laugh at me. I shake my head.

"I think waiting two days is a mistake," I mutter. "Hell, this whole thing has got a bad feel to it. You guys can joke of you want, but come down to it if Katie is injured at all, I'm killing the sumova bitch right there," I say chewing my thumb. I've been trying to stop ever since Katie pointed it out. Ty looks at me.

"I'll be there right along with you," he says seriously. I look at him in the eye and nod when I see he's telling the truth.

"Yeah all for one and one for all and all that shit," Oscar pipes in " Now, if you two are down with the pillow talk I'd like to get some sleep." I raise my eyebrow at Ty and he smiles back.

"Hey Oscar, you're on first watch," I say and turn over.

"What the fuck? Seriously," he says sitting up.

"Yep. And keep the pillow talk down," I say and hear Ty chuckle.

I fall into a uneasy sleep and dream of Katie. She was trapped I'm a tower. She tried to throw her hair down, but a walker cut it off. Then some strange man took her. Merle was in it for some reason telling me to drop being a pussy. I woke when Ty taps me and tells me its my watch. I wipe the sleep out of my eyes and try to push the dream away. I see a figure making their way to our car, the sun rising behind them. Its moving to fast to be a walker. When it gets closer, I know who it is. And I know it ain't good news she carries. I open the door and step out. Sasha runs straight to me.

"They have Katie. We need Rick now," she says.

 **Katie's PIC**

I was getting a bad feeling. The Governor had sent us to a house and said someone would be by to help us along in a bit. That was two hours ago. I was pacing the living room.

"You need to calm down. Its fine," Sasha says. I glare at her.

"I don't trust Allen. He can turn on us at any time. And what about Ben? If he sees us he might blow it altogether. I shouldn't have picked on Daryl about wanting to go after them. I should have told him yes go after him and volunteered to go with him. Not that he would have let me, but still it's the thought that counts, right? I think you need to leave tonight. Go get Daryl and Ty. I don't trust that beady little look in Allen's eyes. And don't get me started on the creep waves I'm getting from the Governor, all I'm saying is I'm glad I don't have a bunny right now," I say. I turn to see Sasha looking at me.

"Say that again. And this time breathe like a human while talking," she says.

"Damn it Sasha. I'm serious," I go and sit on the couch by her, to look her in the eye, "I don't trust them. Promise me, if it comes down to it, you'll get yourself out. Get an early warning to Daryl and Rick. I'll hold out, but I know if you get out help is coming," I say to her. For once I'm not rushing or rambling, I'm calm. Sasha sits straighter.

"No, we get out together or not at all. I'm not leaving you here, but it won't come to that. We'll be able to have a peaceful treaty and that will be all," she says. I can tell she doesn't believe it. I smile at her.

" I may be young, but even I know that if a man tries to kill somebody, because they want to leave, there's no room for peace. Honestly, would you rather be trapped here for two days, with our group not knowing anything is wrong or leave now and know it will only be hours for me to be rescued," I say. All of a sudden the street lights go out. I look at her.

"The Governor would not have forgot about us. I think he plans to grab us in the dark. Go Sasha," I say. She hesitated, but slips out the back. The front door bursts in and there's a man with a hook on his hand. He has Ben by the scruff of the neck.

"Now, tell me boy, and don't lie like your daddy did, you know this bitch," he says shaking Ben a little.

"There's no need for that. Yes, I know him and Allen," I know Sasha is still close enough to hear and I'm trying to give her time. "I'm sorry for lying, Allen always creeped me out. I was scared when I seen him. I thought it was easier to agree with whatever he said till I can speak to the Governor about him." The man smiles cruelly at me.

"Well, well we got a little actor on our hands. I'm not tricked easily. Come on you're coming with me," he throws Ben down and goes after me. "Now where's your friend?"

"I don't know. She said she wanted to walk around and get a feel of the place. We waited for the Governor, but she was itching to move, being on the run can do that to you." He shakes me by the arm.

"Girl drop the act. Allen squealed like a damn pig. I know about the prison. We're going for a visit tomorrow. Allen told me about a little girl there named Gracie," he smirks at me. I lose it then and start kicking and scratching at any part of him I could get.

"If you lay one finger on her, I'll kill you! I'll kill you! Don't even say her name," I'm screaming and hitting him.

"Geez, just shut up," he says. Then everything goes black. My last thought is a silent prayer that I gave Sasha enough time to sneak out.

.


	7. Chapter 7

Forgive me if this isn't great. I currently have a headache and had an awful day at work. I hope you guys are still liking it. Leave a review if you can. Did you guys like Daryl's point of view or would you rather I just stick to Katie's? Let me know!

 **Chapter 7**

I come to in a brightly lit room. My arms and legs are bound to the chair I'm sitting on. There's a big metal table in front of me. It almost looks like the type you would see in a hospital. I'm completely alone. I'm not sure if I'm relieved or frightened with that.

I have no idea how long I've been out. I don't know if they attacked the prison. I don't know if my group thinks I'm dead or alive, or even if they know that I'm being held against my will. I don't know if I'll see Gracie again or Daryl. I never got a chance to see if we could possibly be anything more than friends. Maybe it's for the best. I shake my head to clear it. I'm talking like I'm already dead. No, I will get out of here. I will see Gracie again.

I breathe in and I breathe out. I start tapping my foot a slow constant beat, counting. When I reach three hundred and eighty one I hear footsteps. I stop all movement. I briefly consider pretending I haven't woken up yet, but quickly toss that idea away. No, whatever is coming I'm going to face head on, even if it is Captain Hook. The door opens to reveal the man himself.

"Well, hello girly. Finally awake I see," he says with a sinister grin. I could do this. Just act tough till you are. "What's the matter? Struck speechless by ol' Merle's beauty?" The name tickles a memory, but I can't think of it right now.

"Aye, captain," I say. My momma always did say 'don't ask a smart ass question and not expect a smart ass answer.' Merle looks at me sharply.

"You making fun of me? And here I thought I was going to be nice to you," he says.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I must have misinterpreted you knocking me over the head and then tying me up to the chair," I say back, raising an eyebrow. He looks at me and laughs.

"Well, girly you don't hold any punches," he says. He starts walking behind me, which immediately makes me stiffen up. "You always so feisty?"

"No, but tell me, how did it feel when four teenagers hit you with their car. Then dumped your body in the lake," I say. I wasn't expecting the hit, which made it all the more painful. It came as a sold punch to the right side of my face. I let out a small scream and then gasp. I wish I was someone who could take pain in silence, but I'm not that tough. Daryl probably could and Rick. Hell, even Glenn or Maggie, but I'm not them. All I have is my unending stock of snarky comebacks. I can use that. I smile, or try to I'm sure it comes out as a grimace.

"Hit me all you like Captain, but I'll never tell you where Peter is," I say spitting some blood out. Let me tell you that is not as cool as it is in the movies. I couldn't aim and it kind of just leaked out of my mouth. Merle looks at me and this time he's not even pretending to be nice.

"Tell me why you came here. Was it to infiltrate the town, steal our supplies or were you trying to take it over," he says looking me in the eye. He carefully digs his hook into my arm where it just barely breaks the skin. Then runs it along my arm. Each pass he gets a little deeper. I suck my bottom lip in and try not to cry. "If you tell me. Maybe I won't kill that little girl of yours. Gracie, that's her name. Yeah Allen told me all about her. Pretty little blonde thing he said. Now, I'm not into kids, but I'm sure I could find a few men that are," he says. I suck in my breath. He stops running his hook across my arm. I look down and see my right arm covered in blood. I glare at him. "I'm gonna leave you alone now sugar, but think real hard on what I said. You can make this easier, but either way that prison is going down along with everyone in it. The Governor can forgive and let your keep your girl, or what I said earlier can happen," he says. He gets up to go to the door.

"Hey," I say and he stops and looks at me expectantly. "You know my group is going to kill you right? They will come here for me and they will get me out. I hope I see you die," I say then I smile. "Your crocodile is coming Captain. Tick tock." He comes across the distance so fast and his hand is around my neck. I can't fight him. My eyes start having black spots and I pass out. Momma always said my mouth would get me in trouble some day.

 **Daryl's Pov**

Sasha and I had been staking out the place. We sent Ty and Oscar back to the prison to warn Rick. Sasha went and waited by the highway for them about an hour ago. So I was sitting here watching two men walk the gate. She better be alive. She better be using that smart mouth of hers to get her out of trouble.

I hear a noise behind me and turn around with my crossbow up. Then I lower it when I see who it is. I count five people. Rick, Sasha, Ty, Oscar and Glenn. I look at Rick.

"Carol, Maggie and Carl are protecting everyone. They're in a secure place just in case this guy decides to go there," he whispers. "What have you found out?"

"Not a damn thing. They haven't even changed shift yet," I say bitterly.

"Guys, I know this is a far fetched idea, but what if we just walk up to the gate," Sasha says. We all look at her like she's lost her damn mind.

"Did ya take a hit to the head and not tell us girl," I say. She shakes her head.

"Hear me out. Do you hear the people on the other side," she says. We all listen then nod our heads. "Ok, well if we walk up they can't shoot us. It would look bad to the town."

"They could just say it was walkers," Rick says. Sasha looks down thinking.

"Not if we shout. Rick you can yell out that you want to speak to the Governor. The people will hear you and know we're not walkers," Ty says. I shake my head.

"Then this Governor can have a private meeting with Rick and kill him. Come out saying he attacked him. Towns none the wiser," I say.

"Demand you speak in public. Maybe if you bring to light some of his dark side the town will see sense," Sasha says. Rick looks at me I shrug.

"It could work, but decide quick. We don't know what they've done to her," I say. Before we can decide the guard switches and a familiar blonde is there.

"Andrea," Glenn breathes out. "Guys, this is our in. If she can try and talk this guy around, we're golden." Rick seems to steal himself then stands up.

"I want to speak to the man that calls himself the Governor," Rick shouts.

"Rick," Andrea yells back. "Is that really you?"

We get into the town, but when they try to get us in a building we stop. It's just me, Rick and Ty. We decided to make Sasha, Oscar and Glenn hide out, just in case.

"Come on, the Governor will see you in his office," some Mexican guy says.

"Nah, we'll meet your man here. We don't got nothing to hide," I say. Andrea looks shocked.

"Nor do I," some sleaze ball guy says coming out of the building they were trying to take us in. "Hello, people call me the Governor. What can I do for you?"

"Well for starters you can give us our friend back and then die for all I care," I say. Rick looks at me. "What? It's the truth," I shrug. Rick shakes his head. Then looks back at the Governor.

"A few days ago a woman came to us. She said you guys were dangerous and close to us. We decided to check it out. To make sure our family was safe. We sent two of ours to check things out see if we could have a treaty of some sort, or, if you proved to be dangerous, kill you. The problem is only one made it back. You have one of our family. And from the sounds of it, it's against her will," Rick says.

"No one is here against their will I can assure you. Are you sure she made it to Woodbury," the ass asks all smooth like.

"I'm positive. You see, the one who made it back said the lights all went off, then some guy with a hook for a hand came in and hit her over the head. Know anyone with a hook for a hand," Rick says getting a good look in the Governors eye.

"That's Merle," some lady says. I look at her.

"What did you say," I ask. She looks frightened all of a sudden, but clears her throat.

"Merle. He has a hook for a hand," she says again. Rick and I look at each other than I look back at him.

"You want to tell me where my friend is, then you can tell me how you got my brother to be your lap dog," I say. The Governor looks shocked.

"You're Merle's brother? He's been looking for you," he says. He turns to the Mexican guy. " Go find Merle." The other guy runs off to do the Governors bidding.

We wait. Then there's a commotion.

"Baby brother," Merle shouts then hugs me. I don't hug him back. "Whatchu still doing with this asshole? You know we handcuffed me to the roof, right?" He lifts his right hand as evidence. I notice blood on it. I stare at it a while and a part of me knows who's blood it is, but the other part wants to deny it. I look up at him.

"If you would have waited we came back to get you. That," I say pointing to his hand swallowing hard at the blood, " is no one's fault, but your own. We weren't that far behind you. As a matter of fact you stole the van we drove to get you." I can't take my eyes off the blood. There's quite a bit on the hook as well as his sleeve. He smiles.

"Is that so," he says.

"Yeah and I don't remember you coming back to camp for me. You have no one, but yourself to blame," I say I bite my thumb for a moment. Then I can't take it anymore. "Damn it Merle Dixon, you best pray that ain't her blood staining you clothes!" He looks down like he just noticed the blood. Then he looks up at me.

"Who's blood we talking about? This is some biter blood," he says.

"Man, we all know that ain't no dead blood. That's fresh," I say getting angry. Then a figure stumbles into the circle. I didn't even notice all the residents had created some kind of circle around us. The figure is Ben. He looks pretty beat up, but mad as a bull.

"He has Katie," he says pointing at Merle. "He killed my dad right in front of me. He didn't even shoot him in the head. He let him turn. All because he," he pointed to the Governor, " told him to. They said they were gonna attack the prison. He threatened Gracie in front of Katie. Katie went nuts and started screaming and hitting him, but he knocked her out. My dad told me things too. Things the Governor made him do. He killed those military guys. You remember the helicopter pilot, yeah he killed him and then went and killed his crew. My dad was apart of it. He killed other people too. He doesn't want anyone to know that it's possible to survive outside of these walls. That's what my dad said," Ben says angrily sneering at the Governor and my brother.

"He wanted to kill me because I left," Michonne says. Where the hell did she come from? I look at Rick but he seems equally as confused. There's a murmur of panicked voices.

"Now, everybody are you really gonna believe these people? Rick let's go to my office and finish our discussion," he says.

"Why, got something to hide now," I ask. Raising my crossbow. "Tell me where Katie is. Now!"

 **Katie's POV**

I wake up again to the same room. My arm is throbbing and it hurts to swallow. I hear hushed voices though. It sounds like a female and male. I listen harder. Could it be? Sasha?

"Sasha," I try to say only to have my voice come out harshly, almost like when you have a sore throat when your sick. The whispering stops. So I repeat her name. Then the door opens and there stands Sasha and Glenn.

"Oh my gosh, Katie," she says. They immediately start undoing the belts holding me to the chair. I stand up and besides feeling a little dizzy I'm ok. I hug Sasha one armed and leave my injured arm hanging at my side.

"I knew you would get me," I say. Glenn hugs me too.

"Come on. They're having a town meeting without is," Glenn says. I look at him weirdly. "You'll see."

When we exit the building I'm momentarily blinded by the sun, but the sharp winter wind feels good on my arm and face. I see a large group of people gathered in the middle of town. Sasha pushes her way through the crowd.

"Hey, I found her," she shouts. There's Rick and Daryl along with Ty standing in the middle of the circle of people. Daryl takes one look at me then lunges and punches Captain Hook in the face. There's a surge of movement then a gun is fired everyone stops. It's a blonde woman I hadn't met yet, she shot a gun in the air.

"Enough, Phillip, what the hell is going on in this town," she asks. He doesn't answer. I notice someone sneak off into the building, but don't see who. "My friend, who decided to leave, is shot and says that you tried to kill her. Someone that my old group took in is all beaten up on your orders. Ben accused you of having his father killed. So, I'm asking you what's going on," she says again. Then we hear glass breaking inside the building. The Governor, or Phillip, looks up then runs inside. Of course Rick, Daryl and even a few Woodbury residents, including the blonde run in as well. Me and Sasha are behind everyone, but we can hear Michonne yelling.

"He has a walker in his closet! And look at these heads. What kind of person keeps people's heads," she shouts.

"Not a sane one," I mutter to Sasha. "Can we go sit somewhere? I'm feeling dizzy." Sasha nods and we go and sit on a bench outside. Most of the residents are gathered around the door, trying to hear what is being said. We hear a gun shot and then the Governor is screaming. I turn to look at Sasha. "I don't feel good." Then I puke. Barely able to turn my head. My eyes feel heavy so I decide to close them for a minute. This is nice actually falling asleep instead of being knocked out. I feel myself being lifted and that's it.

Authors note: Yes I'm saving the prison. Don't worry everyone will still come into play. The longer you stay at a place the further out you have to go. And kids are always needing new clothes cause they are constantly growing. So lots of runs to make especially with three. I know I made Katie kind of damsel in distress, but she gets better I promise. I really couldn't help myself on the Peter Pan references and I know what you did last summer ones. I'm not all that happy with this chapter, but it's getting me where I want to go in the story. If you don't like this chapter just stuck with it. It will make sense in a couple more chapters.


	8. Chapter 8

Reviews! I got some lovely reviews! Seriously reviews feed my soul. I can't tell you how happy it makes me when I check my email and it says New Review. Its awesome, so thank you for the lovely feed back! Honestly, last chapter was a little iffy for me. So the reviews came in at the perfect time! How many times can I say reviews? Haha. Anyway, thank you and I'm so glad you like my story. :)

 **Chapter 8**

I wake up slowly hoping I'm not still in Woodbury. When I open my eyes I see the underside of a bunk, I might be the only person to cry tears of joy at being in prison.

"Finally, thought I was gonna have to start calling ya Sleeping Beauty instead of Rapunzel," I hear Daryl say. I glance around and see him leaning against the wall near the cell door. The blankets I had hung up for privacy were closed, so there wasn't much light. I smile at him.

"You calling me beautiful Daryl," I say. Then I see his face. He isn't happy.

"Didn't I tell ya? Didn't I say that it was a stupid idea? But you just had to go. And now you got twelve stitches in your arm, and bruised face and neck! Don't know what's worse you bring hurt or the fact that my brother caused it," he says pushing away from the wall and walking towards the bed. I scrunch my eyebrows together. Then they nearly raise to my hairline and my mouth falls open.

"Wait, Captain Hook is Merle? Merle your brother? The one that helped you break into houses? That Merle," I say. I knew that name sounded familiar. Daryl glares at me.

"Yes, it's the same," he nearly spits out. I bite my lip.

"I'm sorry," I say quietly. Daryl sighs and closes his eyes.

"If we hadn't found ya," he begins to say.

"But you did. And I'm ok," I say. His eyes snap open.

"You call _this_ ok! I came out of the Governor's house and find ya passed out and Sasha thinking your dying. Then we had to wait till Woodbury was settled to get ya back here, to have Herschel look at you! No way in hell some creepy little head shrinker, that blindly followed some lunatic, was gonna look at you," he says breathing harshly. I crack a smile.

"Yes, makes much more sense for an animal doctor to look me over," I say. He goes to say something, but I just realized what he said. "What do you mean 'wait till Woodbury was settled'?" He looks at me.

"The people of Woodbury voted. They executed the Governor and made Andrea their leader. Merle was also discussed, but the town said that he had the town's best interest at heart and if they executed people for following the Governor's orders then the whole town would be killed. Andrea has him in some probation thing though," he says. I bite my lip again trying not to say anything that would make him mad, but just like always my mouth has a mind of its own.

"I don't want him around me or Gracie. Ever. He threatened to give her to pedophiles. I won't have him around her. And I won't have him around me after what he did," I say firmly. Daryl looked at me and nodded.

"He wouldn't have done that to Gracie, but it shouldn't have been said. I'm not really in a hurry to be around him neither," he says.

"As long as we're on the same page," I say. Daryl nods. I take a deep breath. "Daryl will you teach me to fight?" He looks startled at first, but then a calculating look comes in his eye, one I'm not sure I like.

"I'll do one better. I'll teach you everything I know: fighting, hunting, tracking and shooting," he says. My eyes go wide at that the thank you is on the tip of my tongue and then he drops a bombshell. "but you can never volunteer yourself as bait again."

"Wait. What? Bait? I was no bait. I was a spy at the least," I argue.

"A shitty one at most," he says grinning. "Fine, you can't volunteer as bait or a spy." I cut my eyes at him.

"I agree and you teach me everything," I say skeptically. He nods eyeing me up. I think about it. "One condition." He raises his eyebrows about to protest. I cover his mouth. "If Gracie is in trouble and me volunteering would save her then the agreement is null and void. Only for Gracie," I say. He stares hard at me for a while. Finally he nods.

"Only for Gracie and if that's the only thing to save her," he reluctantly agrees. I beam at him.

"Well, Daryl Dixon you have an apprentice," I say still smiling.

"Shut up," he says amused. "After you heal up we'll start. Now, someone's been itching to see you," he says lifting back the blanket on the door. All I see is a little ball of blonde hair and a blue shirt darting toward the bed.

"Mommy," Gracie says. Looking up at me with a toothy little grin. Her blue eyes are sparkling. I smile and hug her to me.

"Hi, baby," I sigh. I look at Daryl and he has almost a wistful look in his eyes. Then he steps out of my room. I hug Gracie a little closer. She burrows in my side and sighs happily. "I missed you."

"Me too," she says. We lay there for a bit and she quickly falls asleep, but I'm wide awake wondering what that look Daryl sent us was about.

It's been two weeks since Woodbury. Rick and Andrea decided to have an alliance of sorts. We helped each other out. There was an engineer and an architect there. They both agreed the fences would need more support in time. So, whenever either place went for supplies we were always on the look out for things that could support the fence better. The engineer, Tom, briefly considered digging pits around the prison, but quickly dismissed it because it would affect the water flow from the creek. They were talking about getting the showers running, which I was so excited about.

Michonne decided to stay at the prison. She hadn't quite forgiven Andrea yet, but they were slowly building their friendship back. Ben had come back as well, he didn't want to be around Merle after his dad. I didn't blame him. Carl was happy to have his friend back. A few people had volunteered to stay at the prison and help clear it out and secure it better. Rick has told them that if they wished to stay they could and told us that if we wished to live in Woodbury we could. No one has left the prison and the residents were considering staying permanently, but were still undecided.

"Damn it, girl. You aren't paying attention," Daryl spit out angrily. I sighed. Something I learned about Daryl is he called me Rapunzel when he was in a good mood, Katie when he was serious and I just learned 'girl' when he was angry. "Now, look again. We've gone over this track before. What is it?" I looked again.

"A pig," I say, but my voice went up like it was a question. Daryl looked at me.

"Are you asking me or telling me?" I look at him then look back at the print and nod.

"Telling you," I says. He gives a half smile and nods.

"Not bad Rapunzel," he says. I grin. We had learned that there was an extensive amount of wild pigs around. Of course Herschel wanted us to catch a few. I don't know why, we were just going to kill them for bacon. They had no other value than purely meat. Now, I wouldn't mind sheep. We could sheer them and use their wool for clothes. I even said we could keep them in the prisons garage area during winter to keep them warm. Unfortunately, we haven't found anything but pigs and a few deer.

Daryl has been showing me different animal prints for a couple days now, but honestly I'm so bored. I know that it's something that will benefit me in the future, but I really wanted to learn to fight and shoot more. I look at a tree and make sure there's no sap or ants on it, you only make that mistake once. When I see none, I lean against it.

"Daryl," gosh I nearly whine his name. Which is not attractive. I do not want to be a whiny female, but honestly it was freezing. " Daryl I'm cold. There's nothing out here, but those damn pigs. So, I'm not learning anything new. Can we please go back to the prison and maybe you can show me how to throw a right hook," I say with a hopefulness in my voice. He looks at me with squinty eyes. He smiles, but it's an uneasy smile. I immediately push away from the tree and stiffen my back. He stalks over to me. I step back and my back hits the tree.

"You're alone in the woods. Some man you don't know has your back up against a tree. He's not looking for conversation," he says. He puts one hand on the tree right by my head and the other on my hip. He's trying to scare me, but I'm the exact opposite of scared. Then he suddenly grabs both my arms and lifts them up pinning, them over my head. He holds them with one hand. "Your arms are pinned and your at his mercy. How do you get out?" I'm trying to control my breathing. I give a half-hearted tug on my arms, but he tightens them. "Now what? Come on Katie. Think, how do you get out?" I bite my lip and think. Then I suddenly bring my knee up and pretend to go for his manhood. He nods proudly.

"That would work, but let's try something different," he says. He still holds my arms up, but now he's got it where I can't move my legs. "Ok, now what?"

His body is pressed into mine and now I'm really having to try to control my breathing. I move my head, which is the only thing I can move. My eyes suddenly get big.

"I can head-butt you," I say happily. Daryl raises an eyebrow.

"Thought we were friends. You sound to happy at the idea of hurting me," he chuckles and I feel his breath wash over my face. I swallow. "Ok, that would work," he says. "But what about now." He had brought his head so close that I couldn't move my head enough to head-butt him, but that was the last thing on my mind. I was starting in his pale blue eyes and he was starting into mine.

I don't know who moved first, but all of a sudden my lips and his were getting acquainted with each other. I wrapped my, suddenly free, arms around his neck an she had his on my hips. His lips were surprisingly soft and I couldn't help but deepen the kiss. Then that annoying need to breathe came around and we broke apart. I kept my arms around his neck and his hands stayed on my hips.

We stood there staring at each other wondering what this meant. We heard a sound and looked to our left to see about ten walkers headed out way. Daryl looked back at me and we pulled apart and took off back to the prison.

We made it back to the prison rather quick. I'm pretty sure, had Daryl been alone, he would have taken out the walkers, but instead he took the safe route. When we made it into the prison we looked at each other, but before we could say anything Rick called Daryl over.

"Tom, came up with a solution for the showers, but we need some supplies. You ready to go on a run," Rick asks. Daryl looks over at me then back at Rick and nods. He walks back to me

"Um, we'll talk when I get back. Ok," he says self-consciously. He doesn't even wait for a response. He just leaves. I head off to talk to find Sasha. Maybe she can tell me what to do.

Authors note: so confession, I started writing this last night, but for really tired and fell asleep. I'm sorry! So they kissed! And it was totally different than I planned. I originally planned for it to happen when they were talking after she woke up, but Gracie missed Katie so they had a moment. Let me know what you think please! I really enjoyed the reviews! I think I've mentioned that once or twice. Haha.


	9. Chapter 9

Hey guys! So, I have been trying to think about Daryl's reaction and I can't think of the perfect reaction. So I'm doing another time hop. I know that seems weird, but if dialog or situations don't come naturally to me, I don't want to force it. Just like I knew I wanted the governor executed but didn't want Katie to see it. And I didn't know how to naturally write it. Anyway, I started writing this a little earlier than I planned because I got like six more favorites! I hope you enjoy. Oh I know I might make people mad with two notes, but I write this as I go. So I start off with one idea and then when I reach the end of the chapter the idea my have changed. Anyway, reviews are lovely! ;)

 **Chapter 9**

It had been two weeks since the kiss and we had yet to discuss it. When I went to go talk to Sasha I had learned she went on the run as well. So, I waited patiently for them to come back, it took two days. Unfortunately, it wasn't the time or place to talk about it, they lost someone on the run. I didn't know who it was, one of the Woodbury residents. Everyone was solemn after that. It had been awhile since we lost anyone and it was the first for me. Then Daryl went hunting and was gone for three days. He came back with three squirrels and two big rabbits. After that he kinda avoided me.

I'm outside playing with Gracie and watching some of the guys rigging up the system that would allow us to have running water, Daryl was helping. I was trying to teach Gracie hopscotch, but it was freezing. The only reason I was out here was because I wanted to see Daryl, but I was soon going to have to take Gracie in. Her cheeks were turning red.

I picked her up and headed inside. On our way in Kenny, another Woodbury resident, cut me off. He came here about a week ago and always finds ways to talk to me. Kenny was tall and skinny. He had a mop of brown hair and brown eyes and a healthy share of freckles. He was cute in his own sense and close to my age, but he wasn't my type. What am I talking about, I don't have a type. Unless Daryl is a type.

"Hey Katie," he says in his deep baritone voice. That voice does not seem like it should come out of that body, it always freaked me out. "Are you going inside already?"

"Yes, Gracie's cold. And I need to help Carol with lunch. Then after we eat Gracie needs a nap," I say. He looks a little disappointed but smiles.

"Well maybe when Gracie is asleep, we can hang out," he says hopefully.

"Uh, I usually sleep with her. Its my nap time as much as hers," I say. Its not entirely true. I do lay down with her, but I don't sleep. I usually read or dwell on my thought, go through all the what ifs in life. His smile falls a little, but he nods.

"Ok, maybe next time," he says. I smile.

"Defiantly," I say. All of a sudden I feel someone behind me. I turn around and Daryl is standing there. He looks between me and Kenny. Then stares at me.

"Katie, I forgot to tell you I'm free to give you some more fighting lessons today, after lunch," he says. I open my mouth to reply.

"She can't, it's Gracie's nap time," Kenny says staring at Daryl. Daryl raises his eyebrow at him.

"I don't think I was asking ya. I was talking to Katie and she can let Beth watch Gracie during her nap," Daryl says looking at Kenny. I notice Kenny starting to turn red.

"She wants to take a nap too," Kenny says. Daryl turns his head to look at me.

"Since when," he says. I blush.

"I think I can skip the nap today. I need to learn how to defend myself. That's more important than a nap," I say. Kenny looks between us.

"Well, maybe I could help. I'm pretty good. I used to get in fights at school all the time. I never lost," he says. I feel like that's more for Daryl's benefit than mine. Daryl snorts.

"Playground fights? With teachers to break it up and no weapons? That's a completely different thing than what I'm showing her. No I don't need any help. Thanks," Daryl says and to me that thanks sounded an awful lot like 'fuck off' but it might just be me being optimistic. Kenny glares than turns to me.

"Next time," he says And walks away. I look back at Daryl and he's glaring in the direction Kenny left. He looks at me.

"After Gracie falls asleep come find me in the generator room. It'll be warm down there and no one will bother us," he says then turns back where he was helping with the shower setup.

I watch him walk back to the other men. Rick is shaking his head and says something to Daryl. Daryl just shrugs then glances over his shoulder at me and smiles slightly. I shake my head to clear it and glance up at the guard tower. I see Sasha standing up there and she's looking at me with a smile. I know I'm going to have to tell her everything tonight. I turn around and go inside.

Beth watches Gracie as I help Carol with making lunch for thirty people. My mind isn't in it though. I keep thinking about what happened outside. Everyone heads inside to eat their lunch and I help hand out plates to everybody. I always make sure Gracie gets one of the first plates. Kenny comes through my line, but doesn't really look at me. The last one to come through my line is Daryl. He doesn't say anything either, but he looks at me dead in the eye before he takes his plate.

After we get done eating I go to take Gracie up to our cell to sleep, but Beth says that she'll take her as she already has to put Judith down. Gracie agrees, she loves Beth and Judith. I head on down to the generator room. When I get there Daryl is already there. His faithful crossbow lying on one of the tables, never far from reach.

"Didn't take long to get Gracie to sleep," he says.

"Beth volunteered to take her," I say eyeing him. Were we going to talk about what happened in the woods, or even what happened outside? Or were we really going to fight?

"Alright, we went over different ways to get out of someone's hold. Now, what if that person has a gun pointed at you," he says And holds up a gun. I immediately step back. He looks at me oddly. "You really think I would point a loaded gun on you?" He shows me it has no bullets and he still flicks the safety on.

"No, I knew that. Its just instinct I guess," I say. He raises an eyebrow, but looks away and shakes his head. He looks down and then looks back at me with a serious expression.

"Do you like that beanpole Kenny," he says. Then shakes his head. "Never mind. It doesn't matter. Not my business." He turns around only to turn back around sharply and stride over to me till he's an inch away. "Actually, it is. You've been avoiding me since that day in the woods. You don't talk to me! You don't come and find me in the guard tower like ya used ta! I want to know why! If you didn't like me kissing ya just say it! I miss ya non-stop jabbering. Just tell me now and we can get over this if that's what ya want," he says angrily. What?

"I avoided you," I say incredulously. I jab my finger in his direction. "Oh no buddy. You avoided me! Who went on a two day run right after and said we would talk when he got back? Not me. Who then went on a three day hunt and didn't come to find me when he got back? Not me. You're the one avoiding me! I liked the kiss! As a matter of fact, if it was up to me, we would have had a whole lot more of them between then and now," I say. With my finger pressed hard against his chest. Daryl looks down into my eyes.

"Good," is all he says before he's kissing me. I kiss him back wrapping my arms around his neck. He has one hand on the back of my head and the other on my back. The kiss was so much better than I remembered. His lips were a bit chapped, as I'm sure mine were too, but still just as perfect. We pull apart to breathe. He keeps his forehead pressed against mine.

I cut my eyes up to look at him. His eyes are closed and he has a slight smile on his face. We're both still breathing a little hard. He opens his eyes all of a sudden and looks at me. He pulls me a bit closer to him.

"No more avoiding each other. It was hell thinking that the reason you no longer visited me on watch was cause you didn't want anything to do with me. Then I seen that little twig talking to you and I just," he takes a breath, "I wasn't gonna lose you to him." I chuckle. He pulls back looking slightly hurt. "Hey, I'm not used to talking about this shit. Cut me some slack." He tries to pull away, but I jump him wrapping my arms more tightly around him and my legs around his waist. He has no choice, but to catch me. "What the hell woman?"

"I wasn't laughing at you exactly. I was laughing because you thought Kenny actually has a chance next to you," I pause and look at him. His face relaxes and he gets a better hold on me. "Daryl Dixon, you're pretty much the only thing I think about. Even before the kiss. You can ask Sasha if you don't believe me. I just never thought that someone like you could like me. I'm chatty and perky all the time. Sometimes I can be a bit of a diva. I'm not tough like Maggie or Sasha or even Carol. The other night I woke Carl up to kill a spider. I've only killed three walkers and one was an accident. If you hadn't found us we would have died. I have zero survival skills. You want to know what I'm good at? Reading and sleeping. And I guess I'm good with Gracie. And you, you're the exact opposite. You're quiet unless you have something of value to say. You're realistic. You were made to survive this world. You would be fine if you hadn't been with this group. And to think that you're interested in someone like me is completely insane to me," I say. His arms get tighter around me. He looks at me seriously.

"Yes you talk a lot, but I like your voice," his eyebrows pull down in a frown. " But to say you're not tough is a lie. You stayed at a daycare to take care of a kid that wasn't yours. You loved her and made sure she ate. You became somebody's mom when you didn't have to. That was the first thing that drew me to you. Then you never treated me like some white trash hick. Called me a thief a time or two, but if I'm honest I liked that too. The thing that made me realize how I felt about you though Is when you volunteered to go to Woodbury. It pissed me off that you volunteered to go somewhere we never been. What if they shot first and asked questions later? For the first time in my adult life I was scared. I wasn't scared when I learned that my brother was handcuffed to a roof. I wasn't scared when we were looking for Sofia, but watching you walk away from me on that highway. I was terrified I wouldn't see you again," he says. Sometime during his speech he rested his forehead against mine again. We were now leaning against a wall as well. I put my hand on his cheek and he opened his eyes. I smiled at him.

"I think we each need to be less harsh on ourselves," I say. He nods. I bite the inside of my lip. "So, what are we? Boyfriend and girlfriend sound so juvenile, but everything else seems too serious." He frowns thoughtfully and then shrugs.

"Your my women," he says simply. I smile. Then he looks serious again. "I don't share either so tell limp noodle to fuck off." I crack up, but he's suddenly starts kissing me again. And I forget why I was even laughing.

Authors note: please forgive me. I meant to finish this last night, but some personal stuff happened. But look look they're together now! I originally had Daryl just watching Katie and Kenny talk, but Daryl decided he wasn't standing by for that. Anyway I hope you enjoy. Review please! Omg if you guys only knew what I went though to get this up...I have been trying to post this for 12 hours. So please review.


	10. Chapter 10

Hey everybody. I now have to copy and pasting stories cause it won't let me upload. Which sucks cause I have to go and redo things like bolding, underlining and stuff like that, but it's cool. I also read my chapters and found some typos and they're stressing me out lol. Some are autocorrect, but others are me just not paying attention. And here I was thinking about maybe being a beta. Not after those mistakes! I put know instead of no… 😐 what even is that? Anyway moving along here's another chapter.

 **Chapter 10**

We didn't announce our relationship, but we weren't exactly hiding it. Neither one of us were into PDA. Instead we went back into our routine. We teased each other like before and I would visit when he was on watch.

"Just hold it," Daryl says with his arms around me from behind. "Come on, steady."

"I'm trying! It's heavy," I say. "And your distracting me with all your closeness." Daryl pulls back and the crossbow I was holding immediately dips down about a foot. "What are you doing," I screech at him afraid I would drop it out the window. It would for sure break falling out of the guard tower.

"Well, you said I was distracting you. I thought I would step back," he says with laughter in his voice.

"Just get back here and help me," I say to him. He steps up behind me and puts his arms back under mine helping me hold the heavy crossbow. I feel his lips skim my neck. "Did you just kiss my neck?"

"Hmm, maybe. Why?"

"Because then I know you're trying to distract me," I say. We haven't had sex yet. We're taking things slow, but we have gotten close. Its been nearly a week since the generator room. We got close then, but pulled back. We didn't want to rush anything, but it's been on my mind a lot lately. A lot. I think he knows it too. He finds these little 'innocent' ways to touch me that drives me insane. And the fight practice is a whole different feeling now.

We've tried to do about thirty minutes a day of it, but it always ends the same. Daryl has me pinned in some way or another and we start making out. He jokes about me using my feminine charm out of situations. Daryl chuckles.

"Ok, aim at the walker in the green shirt. You see him," he says. I nod and try to move the crossbow in the right direction, with Daryl's guidance of course.

"Ok, now what," I say breathing a little harder from the excitement of firing a crossbow and Daryl of course.

"You got 'em in your sites," I nod. "Alright, pull the trigger," he says. I pull it and the arrow shoots out. I watch in amazement as it soars right in to…the ground. I drop my shoulders in defeat.

"I didn't even get close," I say with a slight pout.

"No, you didn't," Daryl says without any sympathy. I turn and glare at him. He has an amused smirk on his face.

"You knew I would miss?"

"Yep."

"But you told me to take the shot anyway?"

"Yep."

"Why?"

"You were in a hurry. First lesson always make sure you have your target in line. Waste of arrows otherwise. You were in to much of a hurry. It takes time and practice to be able to shoot quick and accurate. Right now we're working on accurate. You were wanting quick," he says. I look at him and sigh.

"Fine, can I try again," I ask looking at him from under my eyelashes. He stares me down. Then motions for me to get back in the circle of his arms. I grin and run over to him turning and facing out towards the gate again. The sun was beginning to set and it was starting to get colder the later it got. We could already see our breath, but now my fingers were getting numb too. Daryl's body heat behind me kept me warm though.

"Alright. Last time for tonight. Then we got to go And fetch the arrows," he whispers in my ear. See crap like that. There's no reason to whisper, but he knows what it does to me. I nod. The crossbow is in mine and Daryl's arms again. He's guiding me where I need to aim it. I look and I see the walker in the green shirt. I immediately want to fire it, but I don't. I wait. I look and I try to ignore Daryl's hot breath on the back of my neck. I take a deep breath. Inhale. Exhale. Then I let the arrow fly. I watch as it hits the walkers shoulder. I shout in excitement.

"I hit it," I say. I turn in Daryl's arms and he smiling.

"Good job, but next time we got to try and hit its head," he says. I give a jerky nod.

"But I did hit my target. May not have been a bulls eye, but it was there," I say still happy. Daryl chuckles. He bends down and kisses me. I wrap my arms around his waist but under his jacket. He holds me awkwardly because he still has the crossbow in his hands.

I don't even feel the cold anymore. I press tighter in to him. He raises one hand to my hair his other still has a hold of his crossbow. I hear a throat clearing and we break apart fast. I look over and see Rick. He must be relieving Daryl from watch.

"This what you do when your on watch," he says smiling.

"Um Daryl was just teaching me to shoot his crossbow," I say embarrassed we got caught. Rick raises an eyebrow.

"Yeah. I bet," he says shaking his head. Daryl looks a little embarrassed, but also rather pleased with himself. I laugh nervously.

"Come on Daryl, let's go get your arrows," I say grabbing his hand.

"My arrows? You're the one who shot 'em. They're your arrows," he says following me down the stairs. I look over my shoulder at him and roll my eyes. He smiles at me, but doesn't say anything else.

I was able to reach through the fence to get the arrow that hit the ground and Daryl called over that walker and killed it while getting his arrow back. We start heading back to the prison. I notice Daryl has a slight bounce in his step that wasn't there before. I eye him. He looks over at me and does a double take at my face.

"What you looking at me like that for," he says. I shrug.

"You look awfully proud of yourself," I say. He stops so I stop with him. He scratches the back of his neck.

"Katie, I'm eight years older than you. I didn't know how any one was going to take it when they realized we were a thing. Rick taking it so well," he pauses. "It just makes me realize that people really don't care about that stuff anymore." He shrugs embarrassed. I smile at him.

"You were worried about that," I say stepping closer to him. I place a hand on his stomach grabbing his shirt and pulling him closer. He comes willingly and places his hands on my waste.

"I didn't want em thinking I took advantage of ya," he says. I shake my head.

"They're your friends. They want you to be happy Daryl. And I'm twenty-three not sixteen. If they don't like it screw em," I say confidently. He chuckles and gives me a quick peck on the lips.

"Come on, let's not give Rick more of a show," he says. I laugh at that. He leads me inside by my hand.

That night Gracie fell asleep super early. I think she's going through a growing spurt. She's been eating a lot and sleeping more lately. I'm laying beside her reading a book from the prisons library, we cleared it out a few days ago. The books were sparse, mostly GED books but there were a few good ones. I hear a throat clear and look at my door.

"Come in," I quietly call out. They move the blanket aside and step in. I smile. "Hey Sasha."

"Don't you hey me. Is there something you would like to tell me," she says staring me down. I look blankly at her. She glares. "Here's a hint. You and a certain crossbow wielding redneck seem to have crossed a line. AND YOU HAVE YET TO GIVE ME DETAILS," she whisper yells. I blush.

"Sorry. I've been busy," I say.

"Oh, I bet you have," she says. I look at her and we both laugh. She walks over and sits on the stool I have in my cell. "So tell me everything." I tell her everything from the first kiss to Kenny to Rick seeing us in the guard tower. When I'm done she looks at me. "Wait, so this has been going on for nearly a month and I'm just now finding out about it. Not only that, but Rick found out before me," I nod and smile sheepishly. "Damn it. Now I have Glenn's night duty watch for the next two days. You suck."

"Why do you have to take over Glenn's night watch?" Its her turn to blush.

"We had a bet. I said there's no way anything happened before Kenny made Daryl jealous, but Glenn said he thought so. Because Daryl acted weird on a run. I just knew you would have told me if anything happened before that," she pouts a little.

"Well I was going to, but you were out on a run and by the time you got back there wasn't time," I say then glare at her. "And you deserve it. Taking bets on my love life," I say faux angry. Then a thought comes to me. "Wait, Glenn knows?" She gives an amused look.

"Oh, honey, everyone knows. You two are cute trying to be all sneaky, but you guys are really obvious," she says. I look at her and she busts up laughing. She tries to keep quiet because of Gracie. "Oh my gosh, your face. Its great. Oh Katie, we're all really happy. Carol was talking about how Daryl deserves to be happy and she's glad he's found someone," she says. She sighs and looks sadly at my cell door. "I have to go on watch now. It was supposed to be my day off," she glares at me. "Looks like Glenn gets a day off now." She gets up and walks over to my door then pauses. She turns around to look at me. "I'm happy for you Katie. You deserve to be happy too. And if Daryl is ever a jerk, tell me. I'll take care of him," she smiles, but I know she's serious. I smile back.

"I don't think that will ever happen, but thank you," I say. She nods and leaves muttering about friendship and trust. I laugh at that.

Sometime later I wake up. I know it's late. There's a quiet stillness around. I must have fallen asleep without realizing it. I look over, but Gracie is gone. I don't panic. The first time this happened I freaked out and woke everybody up, only to find her with Beth. I tiptoe down the stairs and peak in Beth's cell. Sure enough there she is cuddled around Beth. I sigh and head back up the stairs.

"What are you doing up," I hear behind me. I turn around and see Kenny standing at the bottom of the steps.

"I was checking on Gracie," I say. I cross my arms cause there's a draft on the stairwell and I'm wearing a loose t-shirt and a pair of men's sleeping pants, neither of which are made for cold weather. He looks at me a little to long. Maybe Daryl's dislike of him is rubbing off on me, but all of a sudden I don't feel comfortable around him.

"Well since you're up, do you want to hang out? We can go to your cell since Gracie isn't there," he says taking a step up. "Haven't seen you lately we can catch up." I also take a step up away from him. He stops climbing the stairs when he notices.

"I'm tired and it's late. Maybe some other time," I say. He looks at me and nods.

"Some other time," he says. Then turns around and leaves.

I'm halfway to my cell when I realize he had no business being in this cell block. The people from Woodbury are staying in cell block D. I turn around and head to the last cell, where Daryl stays. I move the blanket he has for privacy and walk in.

He's asleep of course. He's wearing a white t-shirt with the sleeves ripped off, of course, and a pair of boxers. I don't hesitate long. I climb over him and get under the covers. I purposely put him between me and the door. Unsurprisingly he wakes up. I feel him stiffen, but I still curl in to him. I feel him relax after the initial confusion. He wraps his arms around me.

"What's wrong," he whispers. I shake my head.

"Nothing. Woke up from a bad dream. Gracie is with Beth again. I didn't want to be alone. That ok," I ask. I feel him smile against my head.

"You can climb in my bed anytime, Rapunzel," he says. "Now, go to sleep."

I don't tell him about Kenny. I'll tell him tomorrow when the sun chases the uneasiness away. I don't want to ruin this moment. So, I cuddle closer and fall asleep in Daryl's arms and I dream of better things.

Authors note: here's some Daryl and Katie for you. I know it's not action packed, but this is falling between seasons three and four. I'm also building up to some other things. Let me know what you think please.


	11. Chapter 11

I want to say sorry for the long wait. I have been trying to write for my other story and although I know where I want it to go, it's being stubborn. Maybe Joslyn is just needing a break after giving birth? Katie keeps bugging me though haha. Anyway I hope you enjoy the update.

 **Chapter 11**

I woke up warmer than normal. I usually wake up and burrow further in the blankets to get warm. When I open my eyes I see a man's chest and then I remember climbing into Daryl's bed last night and why. I left my head to see if I can see light coming in, but I can't see anything.

"It's still early. Ya can probably sneak back to your cell without anyone noticing," Daryl says. My god his gruff morning voice is the best thing I've ever heard. I close my eyes and savor it for a moment. Then I realize what he said. I snap my eyes open.

"Why would I sneak back to my cell," I ask tilting my head back to look him in the face. His eyes are barely open. He shrugs.

"Thought ya were trying to sneak off," he says finally clearing the sleep from his voice, damn shame too.

"No. I don't sneak. We're together now. So I'm sure I'll be spending nights in your cell and you in mine. Unless you have a problem with that," I ask unsure all of a sudden. He grunts and tightens his arms around me.

"Told you last night that you can sleep in my bed anytime you want," he says. His eyes are still half closed and he's smiling slightly now.

"Good," I nod and snuggle deeper into him. He chuckles, but pulls me closer to him.

"Ya remind me of a damn cat kneading pillows before it lays down," he says. I lean my head back to look at him again.

"They do that to sharpen their claws not to get comfortable," I say.

"Then should I be worried about getting scratched," he says. Then immediately blushes at the double meaning. I laugh and shrug.

"We'll see," I put my head back against his chest. "Honestly, if I knew how much heat you threw out I would have been in here the first day we met." He laughs. "I'm serious! You're like my own personal heater. I'm always cold," I pout. He kisses my forehead.

"You're welcome to it anytime, but I have to get up now," he says not moving. I groan.

"Can't we just stay here all day," I half jokingly whine.

"You've got no idea how much I want to, but we've got jobs to do. Ya can stay in bed a little longer though," he says gently pushing my hair behind my ear. I start getting nervous about him leaving. I bite my lip. "What? What's wrong," he asks looking at me concerned. I decide to tell him.

"I lied about the bad dream. I woke up last night and Gracie wasn't there. So I went to check to see if she was with Beth and she was. When I went to go back to my cell though," I pause.

"What?" I sigh and decide to just bite the bullet.

"Kenny was there. He asked if I wanted to 'hang out' since Gracie was asleep. I said some other time and he left. I was half way to my cell when I realized he had no business being in this cell block that late at night. It made me uneasy. So I climbed in here with you." He stares at me for a while then sits up really fast.

"Why didn't you tell me about this last night," he says while jerkily pulling his pajamas off and changing. I forget what we were talking about momentarily. He turns around to look at me to see why I haven't answered. Then rolls his eyes. "Katie, why didn't you tell me last night," he grits out. I shake my head.

"Sorry if I got distracted by you undressing in front of me. Like you wouldn't do the same thing," I mutter.

"Katie," he nearly growls out, now fully dressed.

"Because I knew you would act like this. And I just wanted to sleep beside you and feel safe. I knew if I told you, you would storm off to either beat his ass or worse," I say.

"Damn right," he says. He goes to stand up and I sit up and grab his arm.

"Daryl," I say. He turns around to look at me. "Please don't. It might have been nothing," he scoffs, "Ok, I know that's a stupid thing to say, but I just wanted you to be aware. I don't want you to fight him. Maybe just try to see what he's getting at? At least talk to Rick before you do something," I beg. Daryl looks at me. Then looks down at the ground. He's nodding his head like he's going though all the options. Then looks at me his mind made up.

"I'll talk to Rick, but you have to promise me that ya won't be alone with him. Try to always be with someone. And no, Gracie doesn't count," he says quickly. I nod.

"I can do that," I say relieved. He sighs then puts his hand on my cheek, stroking his thumb.

"Get some more sleep. Ya can stay in here," he bends down and gives me a quick kiss. "Don't girl my shit up too much," he says. I laugh.

"So I can girl it up a little," I tease. He sighs dramatically and looks up like he's asking God for patience.

"If ya must," he says. He turns to leave.

"Daryl," I says. He turns raising his eyebrows in question. "I…thank you." He smiles and nods.

"Anytime," he says.

When he walks out I drop back down on the bed with a huff. I can't believe what I almost said.. It's way too early to be saying that or feeling that, right? I turn and pull his pillow over my face and scream into it. This is why I didn't date. Feelings are so confusing.

 **Daryl's pov**

I find Rick out in the yard talking to Herschel, more than likely discussing plans for the crops.

"We need that yard cleared as well. We could put a green house over there, or even build a barn for any livestock we get," I hear Herschel saying. Rick's nodding along.

"We'll need to fix the fence over there before that," Rick says turning his head and catching sight of me. He nods his head.

"I need to talk to you about Kenny," I say not tiptoeing around the situation. Rick looks shocked with my tone, even Hershel raises an eyebrow. I quickly tell him everything Katie told me about the night before.

Rick is rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Herschel looks concerned.

"Katie's ok right," Herschel asks. I nod.

"If ya call being afraid to sleep in your own cell ok, than yeah," I say. Rick looks at me. We stare at each other for a bit. Then he nods his head.

"We'll keep an eye on him. If he does anything we don't like, he's gone," Rick says. I take a deep breath.

"Next time he makes her uncomfortable, he's done. There won't be a third time," I say. Rick looks me an the eyes. I don't blink. He nods his head.

"Understood," he says. I nod my head, than bring up the other yard and fixing the fence. We come up with a plan on how to fix it, but we're going to need help.

 **Katie's pov**

I didn't go back to sleep. I just laid there for another thirty minutes or so. When I started hearing life going on in the lobby area, I decided to get up.

I exit Daryl's cell and immediately lock eyes with Glenn who's at the bottom of the stairs. He looks confused for a minute. He looks at me then towards Daryl's cell. Then slowly the most evil looking smile I had ever seen on anyone graces his face. Shit. He winks at me, then turns towards our designated lobby whistling a tune I never heard. I shake my head and go to my cell.

I quickly change and as I'm buttoning my pants Gracie walks in. She comes over and hugs me, hair still messed up from sleep. I bend down and kiss her head. I get her dressed and brush her hair into pigtails. One thing Woodbury had was clothes for Gracie. They were nice enough to give some to me.

We sit down at the table and eat the oatmeal Carol has made. Gracie and I are sitting across from Maggie and Glenn. Glenn is eating a piece of bread, but he's smiling real big the whole time he's chewing and staring directly at me. I ignore him and continue eating. Gracie is eating and after every bite is shaking her head from side-to-side making her pigtails bounce and humming.

"So, Katie how did you sleep last night," Glenn asks still smiling. Maggie looks at him oddly, but doesn't say anything. He started earlier than I thought. I put my spoon down and interlace my fingers resting my chin on them, resting my elbows on the table. I look him in the eye.

"I slept fine Glenn. How about you?" Maggie is looking between us not really getting what's going on. Glenn just smiles bigger.

"You sure? You seem tired is all. Like you were kept up late. Maybe you need a good, _hard_ nights sleep," he says. I narrow my eyes at him.

"Actually, Glenn, I slept really good last night. Trust me if I wasn't sleeping you would know," I bluff, but that bluff pays off. His smile drops. I smirk in triumph and pick up my spoon and continue eating. Then Daryl walks in and I see that evil glint enter Glenn's eyes again.

"Hey, Daryl, have you ever heard that saying 'paybacks a bitch'," he says. Daryl stops raises an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Whatcha getting at," he says. Glenn looks up thoughtfully.

"Oh, I forgot where I was going with this. Don't worry though. It will _come_ to me soon." I swear he thinks his puns are so great. Maggie squeaks. She quickly covers her mouth, but I know she's finally caught on. I roll my eyes.

"Glenn seen me leaving your cell this morning," I say ruining Glenn's fun. He frowns at me, but I smile at him. Daryl looks at me then back at Glenn, but before he could say anything Rick and Herschel walk in.

"Glenn you up for a run," Rick asks.

"Sure," Glenn says without hesitation. I smile. He's always willing to help and for that I could ignore his annoying brother antics.

"I need you to go to that construction site we found last week and get those metal sheets we seen. Take whoever you feel comfortable with. Tom said he wanted to go cause he might see materials you wouldn't think of," Rick says. Glenn nods. He's serious now.

"I'll ask Michonne," he looks over at Daryl. Daryl nods. "Daryl, Tom, Maggie and me. Possibly Michonne," he says counting on his fingers.

"Possibly Michonne what," Michonne says coming in from outside.

"Do you want to go out to that construction site? We need the sheet metal," Glenn asks.

"I'm in," she say with a shrug.

"That's five. I think we need a few more. That metal makes a lot of noise when moved. I would feel better if we had at least eight. Four people watching our backs and four moving the metal. How many pieces do we need," Glenn asks looking at Rick. Rick scratches the back of his neck.

"Honestly, as many as you can. We can always use it for something, but we figured four pieces for sure," Rick says. Glenn nods and stands up.

"I'm going to ask around. I really want at least three more people," he says.

Glenn got his eight people. It was Glenn, Daryl, Maggie, Tom, Michonne, Oscar, Ty and, to my unease, Kenny. I was standing by Daryl while everyone was getting ready and loading up.

"Daryl be careful. I don't trust him," I say turning to face him. He was leaning against a low wall and had his arm resting on the wall behind me. He shrugs.

"I'm more worried about Glenn to be honest. I can beat the hell outta Kenny if I need ta, but I like Glenn and Maggie would kill me if I hurt him," he says biting his thumb. I put my hand on his pulling it away from his mouth and then let go.

"Yeah, about that. What was Glenn talking about with that whole payback thing," I say. Daryl blushes slightly and scratches his cheek.

"Uh, let's just say when he and Maggie first got together I may or may not have giving him a hard time," he says.

"Ah, I see. So you totally deserve this," I say leaning back against the wall. Daryl looks at me sharply.

"I thought you were supposed to take my side on things," he says. I tilt my head to the side in thought, then shake it.

"Nope. Cause if situations were reversed you would want your revenge," I say.

"Well, hell yeah I would," he says with a half smile. I smile and nod.

"See. So, let him have his fun." I feel Daryl's hand messing with the hem of my shirt. He's looking out towards the gates.

"Honestly, I'm happy Kenny will be out there with me and not here with ya. It's a big relief," he says. I stare at him and I want to kiss him so bad. Then a thought comes to me. I can. So I reach up on my tiptoes and give him a quick peck. I don't stay there long enough for him to even respond. He looks down at me surprised.

"Hey, lover boy. We're ready," I hear Glenn call out. Michonne and Maggie laugh. I turn to look at them, but instead catch the look on Kenny's face. He's glaring at Daryl. I look back at Daryl and he's glaring right back. When I turn back around Kenny has already got in the truck. Daryl places a quick kiss to the crown of my head and runs off.

"Be safe," I yell at him.

"You too," he hollers back.

Sasha comes up to me after they drive off. She bumps my shoulder.

"Hey, don't worry about him. Its Daryl Dixon," she says with a smile. I smile back still feeling uneasy, but trying not to dwell on it.

"You're right," I say. "Hey, let's get Gracie and go play in the field."

"Sure, as soon as I catch a few hours of sleep. I had Glenn's watch last night. Remember," she says smiling. I smile back and look out to where the cars disappeared to. Daryl better come back in the same condition he left or so help me, there will be hell to pay.

Authors note: I'm so sorry it's been awhile. I've just been caught up in family and work stuff. I hope you like this chapter. Don't worry there should be some action in the next few chapters, not between the sheets action get your head out the gutters. Haha jk. I'm hoping Katie goes on a run soon, but these characters are kind of doing their own thing. So, we will see. Thank you everyone for the reviews. I love for them!


	12. Chapter 12

I'm kind of sad I only had one review, but that review was great! So thank you. Now this will start off in Daryl's point of view and we'll see where it goes from there. My other story Joslyn Grimes is still being stubborn, but I am hoping to update it soon. Maybe this weekend? Anyway, on with the story! Oh and I haven't said it an a while but I don't own anything of Walking Dead. You know in case you were wondering.

 **Daryl's pov**

I'm sitting in the front seat of the truck. Glenn was driving. In the backseat was Kenny and Oscar. Maggie was driving another car with the others. Kenny was in the seat directly behind me. I could see him in the side view mirror. He was glaring out the window and every once in awhile he would cut his eyes at the back of my seat. I look over at Glenn who keeps checking the review mirror to make sure Maggie's still behind us.

"Don't worry china boy. She's a better driver than you. Keep your eyes on the road. Are ya swerving to hit every pothole? Cause I think ya have," I say gruffly. Having Kenny at my back is making me uneasy. I just want to get out of this truck. Glenn glances at me and smiles.

"Like you wouldn't do the same if it was Katie," he says triumphantly. Oscar laughs.

"Nah man. Katie wouldn't be driving behind us. She'd be right by Daryl. Pretty sure he would have strapped her on his back and wore her like a backpack if he could, " Oscar says. I turn around and glare at him. He continues to smile at me. "Go ahead, try and deny it. I dare you." Oscar just grins bigger the longer I remain quiet. Glenn laughs.

I shake my head even more tense now. I glance in the review mirror and see Kenny glaring daggers out the window. They're winding him up and don't even realize it. I glance at Glenn and shake my head slowly at him hoping he catches on. I don't need a bigger target on my back. Glenn squints his eyes at me, but nods his head. Oscar doesn't catch the silent exchange though and keeps on.

"I seen her leaving your cell this morning," he adds. I close my eyes, but I see Kenny whip his head to look at Oscar at that.

"What," his voice cracks slightly on the word.

"Yeah, man. Hard to believe a gruff looking red neck like Daryl could get someone as sweet and innocent looking as Katie, but stranger things have happened," Oscar says with a shrug. Jesus, it's like he wants Kenny to try and kill me. He would fail, but we need this run to go smooth.

"Isn't she a little young for you," Kenny asks harshly. Glenn glances in the review mirror at him frowning.

"I don't think age really matters now. Do you," he asks. Kenny frowns even more.

"No of course not. I guess I'll just start trying to date Beth or Gracie," he says sarcastically, but I see red. Glenn slams on the brakes. Thank god Maggie wasn't driving too close. Glenn and I both turn around glaring at Kenny even Oscar has a look of disgust on his face.

"Listen here dipshit say one word about Gracie like that again and I'll put in arrow in your skull. She's three. You know that's not what Glenn was talking about. As for Beth she's not eighteen yet. You try anything with her I'll let Herschel cut you up like a biology project. Katie is ten years younger than me and she's not a minor. Make another dumbass comment like that. I dare you," I say gripping an arrow tight in my hand. The tension is so thick that when a knock hits Glenn's window we all jump slightly. I look out and see Ty standing there looking concerned. Glenn rolls his window down.

"Everything alright," Ty asks looking at all of us. I glance back at Kenny. Kenny looks away out his window with his hand making a fist over his mouth. I turn back to Ty.

"Its fine. Just had to make a point," I mumble. Ty looks down and sees the arrow in my hand. He glances at Kenny and I see his face tighten slightly.

"Hope it was made," he says and walks back to the car. I hope so too.

When we got to the construction site it was noon. There was a fence all around the site to keep the delinquents out. I noticed Maggie eyeing Kenny. I guess Ty told her that there was some dispute in the car.

We rattle the fence to see if any walkers are trapped. It seems empty.

"Might have been evacuated and locked up before it got bad," I say. Glenn looks past me.

"Or not," he says and nods his head. I turn and see the gate is standing open.

"Shit! Risk it or not," I say. Glenn looks inside the gated area.

"I mean none came. It seems clear. We can open the gates pull the cars in. Load up and leave. Quick in, quick out," he says. I nod.

"I would like to look around for some things I can use later," Tom says. Glenn and I look at each other.

"I don't see why not. Make it quick, don't go to far and always have someone with ya," I say. Tom nods.

After Glenn has the truck backed up Glenn, Oscar, Tom, and Kenny start loading up the metal. Maggie, Michonne, Ty and I stand guard. Glenn was right the metal is making this loud noise every time it bends slightly. It sets my teeth on edge. I glance at the others and know they feel the same way.

"Ty can you hop in for Tom? Tom, if you want to take a look around do it now. The noise is going to attract every walker for miles," I say. Ty nods and Tom starts walking around to a small shed.

"I'll go with him," Michonne says. I look at her and nod my head. She walks over to Tom and I hear them break open the shed.

"Hey Oscar can you help load these tools up," Michonne calls out. I look over and there is a bunch of tool belts and hard hats in the shed, at least that I can see. Oscar glances at me. I nod and Maggie takes over Oscar's spot. I grip my crossbow tighter.

The metal isn't heavy just shaped awkward. It makes it hard for one person to movie it. We got about fifteen pieces loaded and a lot of hand tools that Tom found in the shed. Tom and Michonne were loading a few piece of wood when we heard the moaning. I look over towards the gate and see about ten making their way down the road.

"Wrap it up, we got visitors," I say. Glenn looks up.

"We got plenty. Lets go," Glenn says. Then I hear moaning coming from behind us. When I turn around, there's about twenty. Glenn follows my movement. "Holy shit. Everyone get in the cars now!"

There's a mad scrabble to get to the cars. I hear someone scream. When I turn around I don't see Kenny and Oscar is shoving Tom in the car, but his arm is bleeding. He looks at me.

"Go! I'll keep them busy! When you reach the gate shoot me if you can," he yells. I nod.

When I get in the truck I roll the window down. Glenn is driving again and Ty is in the backseat. I see Maggie, Michonne and Tom in the other car.

"Slow down Glenn," I shout.

"Are you nuts," he yells.

"I made a promise," I say. Just as we hear Oscar scream again. Glenn looks at me and nods.

"You get one chance," he says.

"That's all I need." I raise my crossbow. There's a bout ten walkers surrounding Oscar. I wait for one to shift. It happens and I see my chance. I let my arrow go. Oscar looks me in the eye when I do it and he smiles right before my arrow sinks right between his eyes. I pull myself back in the car and we speed off.

"Did you," Glenn asks. I nod. He lets out a breath. "Good."

I close my eyes and see Oscar's last smile. How the hell did he get bit? They weren't that close yet. This should have been a simple run and where the hell is Kenny?

 **Katie's pov**

After Sasha had her rest she came and found me and Gracie. Now we're out in the field. Gracie is running around trying to catch grasshoppers.

"So what is it you wanted to talk about," Sasha asks. We're sitting on the grass watching Gracie.

"I almost told Daryl I loved him this morning," I say in a whisper. Sasha looks at me and then cracks up.

"That's what you had to tell me? Girl anybody with eyes can see it," she says still laughing. I push her over.

"It's not funny! Don't you think it's too fast? Is it normal to feel this way so soon," I say worried. Sasha looks at me. She still has a hint of a smile on her face.

"That's the thing Katie. Its not normal, but you know what else isn't normal? Dead people walking around. We don't live in a 'normal' world anymore. My advice take what you can, when you can. Otherwise it's just wasted time," she says. She looks over at me and sees my still skeptical look. "Katie, we can die at anytime. We can have walkers overrun this place. Someone can decide to take what we have, or we can die when we go on a run. You have something that can potentially be good with Daryl or you can have something that is good with Daryl. Don't stay in the zone of potential to long, unless you want to live in the land of 'what ifs' later.

"How would you feel if they came back from a run and Daryl was gone? Would you regret not saying how you felt? Or be relieved you didn't 'move to fast' according to a society that no longer exist," she looks at me, serious now. I look down at the ground. I hear Gracie squeal and look up and smile. She caught a grasshopper only to freak out that a bug touched her. I turn to look at Sasha.

"You're right. Time is meaningless now. If I met and fell in love with Daryl in a day, it wouldn't make it less true, just fast. I'm going to tell him when he gets back, but what if he doesn't feel the same way," I say. Sasha smiles.

"Oh, he does. Has for a long time I think," she says confidently. My eyebrows scrunch together looking at her. She rolls her eyes and flicks my forehead.

"Owe," I say rubbing where she flicked me. She points to the fences.

"Walkers can even see it. He didn't barrel into Woodbury, punch his own brother and ignore said brother because of me. No ma'am. He did all that for you. And that was how long ago?"

"Might as well have been another life time," I say.

I look up when I hear cars and smile.

"Oh look lover boy is back," Sasha says. I grin and shove her a little. We stand and dust out butts off. I cup one hand to my mouth.

"Come on Gracie. Time to go in," I yell. She comes barreling up to us. I reach my hand back for her to hold. When her little hand grabs hold of mine we head to where the cars are pulling in.

I notice they are all solemn looking. I do a quick head count and notice two missing.

"Oh no," I say. I count again and I notice that it's Kenny and Oscar that are missing. Sasha and I look at each other and I reach down and pick Gracie up so we can sprint to them.

When we get there Daryl has his hand on Axel's shoulder. Axel is crying a little and nodding. We finally get closer to them and I hear Axel ask Daryl if he did it. Daryl pauses then nods his head once.

"Thank you," Axel says. "He was a good man. He saved my neck quite a few times from Tomas. He was the last person I knew before all this. Its weird. Its like the last connection to normal I had is gone." Rick puts his hand on Axel's shoulder.

"You going to be ok Axel," he asks. Axel nods.

"I think I just need a minute by myself. If you don't mind," he says.

"Of course. Take all the time you need," Rick says. Axel goes to walk off. Then stops and turns around.

"He died saving you guys," he asks Daryl. Daryl nods his head, but it was Tom who answered.

"He saved my life. He made sure I got in the car he was already bit at the time. Then he stayed back to distract the walkers for us. Daryl made sure he didn't suffer," Tom says. Axel nods.

"I always thought he was more suited to wear a cape instead of a jumpsuit," Axel says quietly. He bows his head and walks inside.

"What the hell happened," Rick asks. Again it's Tom that answers.

"Kenny tried to get me to leave. I refused. Oscar came over to see what was going on. That's when the walkers showed up. Kenny pushed Oscar into a walker and ran off. That's how Oscar got bit initially. Oscar made sure I got to the car," Tom says in an unsteady voice. Rick looks over at Daryl.

"He was angry when we left. What I told you before we left? He wasn't to happy about it. Oscar unintentionally wound him up," Daryl says. Glenn looks down ashamed.

"I did too. I didn't know. I was just joking around. I didn't mean to set him off," Glenn says.

"Don't do that. What Kenny did was on him, not you. Not Oscar," Rick says. Rick looks at Daryl and it's then that I really look at him too. He doesn't look so good.

"Daryl, why don't you go rest," Rick says. Daryl looks like he's about to argue, but thinks better of it and goes inside.

I watch him walk inside with his head down and everything Sasha said earlier comes to the forefront. I turn to Sasha, but before I even ask she's reaching her arms for Gracie. Gracie goes to her easily.

"Go," she says nodding her head to where Daryl just disappeared to.

"Thank you. She'll be needing her nap after she eats," I says. She just nods her head.

"No nap. I not tired," Gracie says defiantly crossing her little arms. I glance up at Sasha making sure she's up for the fit that will be thrown. She just nods her head again and does a shooing motion with her hand.

When I make it to Daryl's cell he's just sitting in his bed with his elbows on his knees. His hands clasped together on his forehead, almost like he was praying.

"He was smiling, when I shot him. He was smiling. He asked me to and he smiled when he knew he wouldn't be like them. I wish I seen Kenny so I could have put an arrow between his eyes. If it wasn't for him, Oscar would be alive," he says all this without moving. I go to him and kneel on the floor in front of him. I put my hands on his thighs and look up in his face. He lowers his hands and looks at me.

"You did nothing wrong. You saved him. Maybe not the way you would have liked, but you saved him from being a monster," I say. I take a deep breath. "Its one of the many reasons why I love you Daryl Dixon. You have the biggest heart, time and again you do things that hurt you just to help someone else. You try not to show it, but it's not fooling anyone," I say. He looks at me silently for a long time.

Finally, he puts two fingers under my chin and tilts my head back. Then we're all lips and movement. I don't know how our clothes come off, but they do. We try to stay quiet, but I'm not sure we succeed.

Afterword, we just lay there together. I have my head on his chest and he has his arm around me. His middle finger is making shapes on my shoulder. I smile.

"Whatchu smiling at," he says with his own smirk. I shrug

"Just thinking. You know this was only the second time I've done this and I don't know why I waited so long. The first time was just such a disappointment that I thought sex was just a waste of time," I say. Daryl raises an eyebrow at that.

"And now," he asks. I smile wider and look up at him. I grab his free hand and lace our fingers together.

"Well now, I think everything else is a waste of time," I say. Daryl cracks up and can't stop laughing. So I hit his stomach.

"Don't laugh at me," I say with a giggle. He tries to stop and finally settles down enough. He looks down at me and kisses my forehead.

"Go to sleep Rapunzel you've earned a nap," he says.

"Pretty sure you did most of the work," I mumble. I feel his chest shake with his chuckle and then I fall asleep to the beat of his heart.

Authors note: please don't hate me for the wait. I've been sick and have other things going on. I think I will be updating Joslyn Grimes soon. I know where I have to start now. And hey look Daryl and Katie have taken it to the next level. Sasha is very wise haha. I'm not going to have explicit scenes just cause I don't feel comfortable writing them, but leave reviews please!


	13. Chapter 13

Hello all. Thank you guys for the reviews! Honestly, that's my favorite thing to see in my email. I absolutely love to hear from people who like my stories. It's a huge ego boost. I reached 100 alerts for this story which is cool, I think anyway. I have come to the conclusion that I made a plot mistake, but I'm trying to fix it. You'll find out what it is in later chapters. Anyway on with the story.

 **Chapter 13**

For the second day in a row, I wake up in Daryl's cell. Only this time I don't wake up gently, it's to the crying of a two year old.

"Mama. Where you go," I hear Gracie crying. Its dark and I can barely see. I jump up and over Daryl who barely has time to register what's happening. Luckily, I had woken up earlier and slipped on Daryl's shirt so I wasn't naked still.

"Gracie. What's wrong," I whisper yell. I stub my toe on the cell door walking out. "Ow, dammit," I say under my breath.

"Mama," Gracie says. She's stopped crying and has a hopeful tone in her voice.

"Gracie? Where are you." All of a sudden I feel a force knock into my legs, I reach down and pick Gracie up. Then I limp back to Daryl's cell.

Daryl is standing in the middle of his cell with his arms hanging loosely at his side's. Gracie is clinging to me and I know I won't be getting out of her sight anytime soon. I start rubbing her back.

"Hey, I'm going to go sleep in my cell. I think Gracie needs some one on one time right now," I say to Daryl in a hushed tone. Daryl puts his hands on his hips and nods his head.

"You can stay here. I'll sleep on the top bunk," he says sounding only a little hopeful. I eye the bed and blush.

"Um, maybe not right after what happened on it," I say.

"Oh, right," he says scratching the back of his neck.

"But this is something we'll need to discuss," I say while adjusting Gracie. "If you're serious about this we'll need to get Gracie used to it. We'll also need to figure out the sleeping arrangements. I can't always have someone watch her. They have been super nice and accommodating lately though. And," I'm cut off by Daryl kissing me.

"You talk to much Rapunzel," Daryl whispers. "Go. Get some sleep we'll figure it out in the morning." He kisses me again and I smile against his lips.

"Ok," I say. I walk out and head to my cell. I get Gracie all tucked in, she had fell asleep before we even left Daryl's cell. I lay down beside her and fall back asleep with her small weight on my chest and Daryl's shirt keeping me warm.

The next time I wake up its to the feeling of warm liquid on my back. I glance over at Gracie, who's still asleep, and see she's had an accident. I sigh. I remember having to potty train her in the first two weeks after this all happened. I was worried about running out of diapers too quickly. It took about four days of doing nothing but taking her potty every thirty minutes or so. It was pretty easy. I didn't have any distractions. It's been awhile since she's had an accident.

I stand up and gather some clothes for me and her. Then I gently wake her up.

"Gracie? Sweetie, its time to get up. We need to go take a bath," I say while running my hand through her hair.

She starts to come around slowly. Then she does a big stretch and opens her eyes. She looks at me confused, but reaches her arms up for me to pick her up.

When we leave the cell I see Daryl standing in his cell talking to Tom. When he sees me he half smiles, but quickly goes back to their conversation.

I give Gracie a bath and then I rinse off quickly. I put Gracie's hair up in a simple braid and leave mine down to dry. We go inside to eat breakfast and see Axel sitting by Carol talking quietly to her. Carol looks over and gives me a sad smile. Poor Axel. I almost forgot about Oscar. Almost.

Glenn comes in and I expect him to start giving me a hard time, but he doesn't. He gets his oatmeal and sits down across from me. He starts eating without saying a word. I set my spoon down and wait. I stare a hole in the top of his head. He glances up and startles at my intense stare.

"What," he says.

"I'm just waiting for it to start," I say. Glenn looks confused.

"For what to start," he says. I narrow my eyes at him.

"I know you know where I slept last night," I say suspiciously. The confusion on his face clears and he blushes slightly.

"Yeah I know," he says and looks down at his bowl. He starts moving the spoon back and forth in his oatmeal. "Did Daryl tell you what happened with Kenny? I was teasing Daryl about you and he snapped. If I was just being serious and not joking around, Oscar might still be alive. So, no I'm not going to start in on you. If I acted like an adult yesterday, things would have been different."

I stare at him. He can't really blame himself for Kenny's actions, can he? As I look at his defeated posture, I realize he can and does. Well, I'm not gonna have that.

"Oh, good. Because let me tell you it was a _long, hard_ night I didn't get any sleep. I think I might be losing my voice as well. Does it sound hoarse to you? I think there's a spring coming out in my mattress too, because something kept poking me last night," I say. Glenn is nearly strangling his spoon. When he looks at me, he has a pained face.

"Why are you torturing me," he says.

"Because Glenn as much as you annoy me with your little jokes. You annoy me like a little brother would. I want you as you are, immaturity and all. You aren't responsible for Kenny's actions anymore than I am. I refuse to feel guilty and I refuse to let you feel guilty. The only person who is guilty turned tail and ran, like the coward he is. So, go on and give it to me." We stare at each other for a long time. Finally, Glenn stands up with his bowl.

"No," he says and turns away. I slump down thinking I lost. Then Glenn turns around. "That's Daryl's job," he says with his mischievous smile. I look up at him and smile back. "And I'm older than you, by the way." He throws over his shoulder on his way out of the cell block.

"Then start acting like it," I yell at him, but I'm smiling when I say it. I hear him laugh before I hear the door outside open. I see Carol smiling and shaking her head and even Axel is half smiling.

"Children," Carol says as if it explained everything. Axel is nodding his head in agreement. I stick my tongue out at them.

"That's not nice," Gracie says sternly. I jump and look down at her. Her little eyebrows are scrunched together. "Say sorry," she says to me. I try not to smile and look over to Carol and Axel who are having in equally hard time not laughing.

"I'm sorry," I say, my voice shaking from holding in laughter.

"It's ok," Carol says nodding. I look down at Gracie and she nods her head and starts eating her breakfast again.

I'm in awe of how fast she's growing up. She turned two a little after we arrived. Carol was mad I didn't say anything, but I hardly knew them then. She was talking fairly good then. Now, she still speaks really well, for a two year old. She forgets words here and there, but she gets her point across.

"All done," she says. I smile and look in her bowl to make sure it is all gone. I wipe her face with a cloth that a grabbed. She still hasn't quite learned the art of eating without making a mess, but she's stubborn and wants to do it all on her own.

Daryl walks down the stairs with Tom on his heels.

"Hey Katie, come here I need to talk to ya," he says smiling.

"Ok. Carol, can you watch her," I say gesturing to Gracie.

"Of course. Come here Grace. Lets see how high we can count," Carol says. Gracie scrambles over to Carol and they immediately start counting together. Gracie is repeating everything Carol is saying.

Daryl and I head upstairs back to his cell.

"So, I talked to Tom and he thinks we might be able to break a small door way in this wall," he says putting his hand on the wall between his cell and the next. "We can put a blanket up between it for privacy. Also, we can close off the other cell so Gracie can't go wandering off at night," he says with a big grin.

"What are you talking about," I say confused. Because, honestly he made no sense just then. Daryl looks at me a little unsure now. He scratches the back of his neck.

"Well, if we connect these two cells, Gracie can have her own room and we can stay in the same room," he says. I smile as i finally get what he's saying.

"Daryl Dixon are you asking me to move in with you," I say stepping closer to him. He looks down at me.

"Isn't that what we were talking about last night? Look, I like having ya around. I don't like ya being where i can't see ya. I don't want to sound like a damn romance novel, but I sleep better with you beside me," he says embarrassed. I grab a fistful of his shirt and pull him to me. He comes to me willingly and puts his hands on my hips. I get very close to his face.

"But what if I girl your shit up," I whisper. He smiles slightly.

"I'll take my chances," he says. Then kisses me and for this brief moment everything is perfect.

Authors note: Ok I'm sorry if this I short. I got a new phone and this was already half written. So, it didn't tell me how many pages it was. This is a good stopping point though. I'm going to do I time skip in the next chapter and there will be a lot more action. This was just the calm before the storm. I'm also trying to show what everyone else's relationship with Katie is. Bare with me please. I appreciate all of you. Review if you can please. Oh and some people call Gracie Grace, just so no one gets confused thinking I'm changing her name.


	14. Chapter 14

Hello everyone. The next few chapters may be laid out differently. I got a new phone and can't set up margins or center anything. I apologize for anything that may look odd. So, we're doing a bit of a time skip here and that's really all I have to say now. Enjoy! (I'm so sorry I had to copy and paste this and I hate the way it looks)  
 **Chapter 14**  
 **Six months later**

* * *

I woke up to a whispered conversation. I smile when I hear Daryl and Gracie talking. I open my eyes to see the blanket we have draped between the cells pulled back. Daryl is laying on his stomach next to Gracie and they are coloring.  
"I ain't never seen a dog with purple hair, Gracie," I hear Daryl say.  
"She's a princess dog," Gracie answers seriously. Her little tongue sticking out in concentration, eyebrows pulled down in a frown. I stifle a giggle. I see Daryl glance at Gracie and then nod.  
"Oh, ok that makes sense," he says and continues to color. "Then my dogs hair is green cause he hunts." Gracie snaps her head up to look at him. She tilts her head to the side thinking.  
"Ok, I guess you can," she says and begins coloring again. I see Daryl trying not to laugh.  
I remember the first time I woke up and seen them in the floor playing. When I asked Daryl why he didn't wake me up he shrugged said he might as well let me sleep. His exact words were, " 'Sides kids an early riser, like me."  
Ever since then I always woke up to them doing different things together. From playing with the few stuffed animals she has to coloring to Daryl being a horse, he's still embarrassed I caught him on that one. Daryl became an amazing dad. When I pointed that out to him he shook his head and said he wasn't a dad. He walked off after that and I didn't bring it up again.  
It had taken nearly a week to make the doorway-like hole in the wall. I fully appreciated the effort prisoners who escaped put in to it, its not as easy as movies make it seem. Tom didn't want to make the hole too big because it could compromise the structure. We had to step in and duck while going into Gracie's room, but it worked.  
Since then Daryl, Gracie and I have been pretty close to inseparable, except when Daryl goes to hunt. Unfortunately, a lot of Woodbury residents have decided to move in recently. They keep getting breaches. Andrea doesn't know how. They've had to double night watch, but still walkers keep getting in. One of the residents that hasn't yet moved in, but frequently visits was none other then..  
"Hey Darlina! Rise and shine lets go bag us a deer," Merle says raising the privacy blanket on our cell. I glare at him when he pops his head in. "Tinkerbelle, you going to lay around all day while the rest of us work?"  
I glare at him harder and pull the blanket further up so he can't catch a glimpse of anything he shouldn't.  
"Merle, get outta here. I'll be down in a minute," Daryl says.  
"Fine, play house and then come find me," Merle says. He looks at me one last time then leaves.  
"You've told him he can't come in here right," I ask Daryl, throwing the blanket off and picking up clothes to wear. Daryl sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose. Gracie watches him then copies the move. Daryl smirks at her and leans down to kiss her head.  
"Gotta go Gracie, but don't throw away my picture," he says while standing. He walks over to me and puts his hand on my hip. "Yes, I've told him, but he doesn't listen. I'm sorry," he whispers. I look up at him and sigh.  
"Fine," I breath out and pull away from him.  
"Ya mad at me now."  
"No Daryl, I'm not mad," I say irritated.  
"You sound mad," Daryl says leaning against the bed staring me down. "Look, I asked. You said you were ok with me hanging out with my brother." I dropped the clothes I had in my hands and turn to him with my hands on my hips.  
"Yes Daryl. I said you didn't even need to ask, but I also said I didn't want to see him, hear him, or smell him. He comes in here every morning. I don't want him around Gracie or me. I haven't forgot what he said or what he did."  
"Neither have I," Daryl says angrily, pushing away from the bed and standing right in front of me. "But that man is my brother! He raised me! Took a beating or two for me as well. I can't just turn my back on him! You are making this impossible for me though. You're making me choose between you and him and its tearing me up. Can't you see that? I want to be with you Katie and I want to be able to bullshit around with my brother, but I can't do one without making the other feel left out. I'm not asking you to like him, but if you could please just let me hold my girl while talking shit with my brother and feel like a normal person for one day it would be much appreciated," he huffed and turned to leave. I bit my lip.  
"Wait. Daryl I'm sorry. Ok, you're right. Please, just come here," I say on the verge of tears. I quickly blink them back before he see's. Daryl turns, but doesn't walk back to me. So, I go to him. I put my arms around his waist and start placing small kisses where I can reach.  
"I don't want to make you choose between us. That's not fair. I'll try, ok? That's all I can promise right now," I say. Daryl finally wraps his arms around me and rest his chin on the top of my head.  
"That's all I ask. If it doesn't work, I'll drop it and won't ask again," he says. I nod my head against his chest. "Are you feeling better today," he asks. I've had a nasty cold the past couple days. Hershel gave me some cold medicine they found and I've gotten over the worst of it, but I still have a few side effects.  
" Still tired and a little achy, but a lot better," I say. I lean my head back to look at him. I blush. "I'm sorry for last night as well. I don't know what came over me. Hopefully, you don't get sick. You haven't really been cautious."  
He smirks at me and leans down to kiss me.  
"I haven't been cautious? Remind me who attacked who last night," he smirks at my blushing face. "No need to apologize about last night. You won't hear me complaining and if I get a cold, then I get a cold. It would be well worth it. Trust me."  
"Darylina, pull your head out of your girls ass and lets go," Merle yells. More than likely waking everyone who was asleep up. I hear Judith start crying and Carol start berating Merle for his mouth.  
I look at Daryl and he's using his pleading eyes on me. I sigh.  
"I promised I would try and I will. Go before he pisses off Carol more," I say pulling away to get mine and Gracie's clothes together, but he pulls me back to him and kisses me.  
"I'll see you soon," he says smiling. I nod and smile back. I watch him leave and sit down on the bed.  
"Shit." I look up startled.  
"Gracie, don't say that its not nice," I say surprised.  
"Daryl says it," she says. I love how she says Daryl. It sounds like D-role. I sigh.  
"Well, I'll tell him not to say it either, but its not a nice word so don't say it anymore. Ok," I say to her. She shrugs.  
"Ok," she says and continues to color.

By the time Gracie and I got dressed and make it down, everyone was up and about. I see Sasha sitting down by herself and make a bee line for her.  
"Where's Ty," I ask setting mine and Gracie's breakfast down. I get Gracie situated and turn back to Sasha.  
"Oh, he's clearing the fence with Karen. And in this world that's equivalent to going out for a drink, but he still refuses to admit there's something there," she says. I scrunch my eyebrows together.  
"Karen? Is she one we found or Woodbury," I ask.  
"Woodbury. She was one of the first ones to decide to make the move over here. And my big brother has been smitten ever since," she says with a little grin. "Oh, and Glenn and I went to that little convenience store I told you about. The feminine hygiene isle was nearly untouched. So, tampons for everyone," she says with a huge smile.  
"Oh, that's good I should be on mine," I scrunch my eyebrows together and then give up. "That cold sucked my brain power and I still haven't gained it back," I say rubbing my head.  
"Well, I started today and you usually start a couple days after me," she says confidently.  
"Well, that explains this morning," I say with a sigh, at least I hope that's why.  
"Uh oh. What happened this morning?"  
"I went from wanting to rip Merle and Daryl a new one to nearly crying when he left. Then last night," I trailed off looking down at Gracie. I clear my thought. "Lets just say Daryl woke up to a happy surprise. I should have known it was getting close."  
Sasha cracked up. I started laughing too, but ended up in a coughing fit. Which immediately caused my head to start throbbing.  
"Urg, I want this cold gone already. I get one every season change," I say blowing my nose on a napkin. Sasha gives me a sympathetic smile. "At least I'm no longer coughing so hard I'm throwing up, there's a silver lining," I say with a sarcastic smile.  
"Go see Hershel. Maybe he has some allergy medicine or something," she says.  
"I think I wiped the last of the cold medicine. Daryl made sure I took it religiously. He even woke me up and made me take it," I say.  
"Woah, woah, woah too much information for my ears Katie." I turn around and glare at a smiling Glenn. Sasha starts laughing so much she snorts, but tries to cover it up.  
I roll my eyes at them and turn back to my mush breakfast, but all of a sudden it didn't look appealing.  
"Hey, take another day. Everyone will understand," Glenn says sitting down across from us. I let out a sigh and shake my head.  
"I already took four. I'm ok. I just need to work the ache out of my muscles. Clearing the fence will do that. So, what are you guys doing today," I ask them.  
"When Daryl gets back from walking his brother," I snort at that description, "we're going out to this place we found, The Big Spot. It could be a land mine. It was set up as a refugee center, but got overrun. We set up a stereo to lure them out," Sasha says. Glenn nods.  
"Who's all going," I ask. Gracie pulls my sleeve and I glance down at her.  
"I wanna play with Beth," she says. I look up and quickly spot her with Judith.  
"No sweetie Beth is busy with Judith," I say turning back to Glenn and Sasha, but Gracie pulls my sleeve again.  
"I go play with Beth and Jude," she says giving me the most ridiculous set of puppy dog eyes. I sigh and glance over to Beth again. I catch her eye and nod my head towards Gracie. Beth smiles real big and nods.  
"Ok Gracie, but you need to listen to Beth and if she tells me you didn't you'll be in big trouble," I say. I honestly have no clue what that punishment would be, I really hope she never calls me on my bluff. She nods and takes off. I watch till she reaches Beth then sigh and look back at Sasha and Glenn.  
"Now, who's going," I ask again.  
"Well Glenn, Daryl, a kid named Zack, Maggie and I," Sasha says, but Glenn shakes his head.  
"Maggie is staying, but Ty wants to go," he says avoiding eye contact. Sasha and I share a look, but drop it.  
"I would like to go as soon as i get over this cough. I keep telling Daryl I want to go on a run," I say.  
"And I keep telling ya, there's no need," Daryl says coming from behind me. He sits down in Gracie's abandoned spot. He pulls my bowl over to him and takes a bite of my food. "Ya need to eat."  
I glare at him and pull my bowl closer to me.  
"I would if someone didn't take my food. And what do you mean there's no need. We need supplies. We're growing by the day. Woodbury is all but moved in and we keep finding stragglers. There's a high supply and demand. More people going on runs more things you can grab," I say. Daryl looks at me with something between amusement and disbelieve.  
"Wrong. The more people, the more noise, the more walkers. The less that come home. Simple as that."  
"Well how else are you going to find out if you're actually a good teacher or not," I say. Daryl stares at me a minute.  
"Fine. As soon as Herschel says you're good, then ya can go. But only if I'm going. I don't trust anyone to bring ya back home," he says begrudgingly.  
"Hey," both Glenn and Sasha say.  
"What? Glenn will do anything to get back to Maggie and you have your brother. I would do anything to get back to Katie. We all have our priorities. I'm not saying we wouldn't do anything in our power to save each other, but we have our limits when we know someone's waiting on us," Daryl says. He gets up to go say bye to Gracie.  
"I don't know whether to hug him or hit him," Sasha says.  
"Welcome to my world," I mutter, but I smile at him and Gracie.

On my way down to fence duty, I stop to say bye to Daryl and everyone. I see Daryl crouched low checking the tires. So, I crouch down behind him and whisper in his ear.  
"You remember what happened early this morning," I ask.  
"Whatcha trying to start girl," he grumbles without turning around.  
"Come back unhurt and we could have a repeat," I say smiling. I go to stand up, but get pulled back down. Daryl kisses me sweetly. If we weren't hiding by the car I'm not sure he would have done it. He pulls back and smirks.  
"I'll always come back," he says cockily. I smile and kiss him one more time then get up.  
"You better," I say. I walk over to Ty and Sasha. "Hey, you guys be careful, alright?"  
"Don't worry about us. We're good," Ty says with that huge smile and gives me a giant bear hug.  
"The only thing I'm worried about is this Bob guy wanting to go at the last minute," Sasha says while eyeing the man in question. I turn to see who it is. I see a tall thin black man. He looks vaguely familiar.  
"If he wants to, let him, but keep an eye out. We don't need another Kenny incident," I say. I look over and see Beth talking to, who I assume is, Zack. I elbow Sasha and nod my head towards them. Sasha and I both smile at that.  
"Aw young love," Sasha says then laughs a little. I shake my head at her.  
I start to walk down towards the fence when I hear somebody call my name. I turn around to see its Glenn.  
"You're not going to wish me luck," Glenn says.  
"Glenn, if you get ambushed all you have to do is say a lame joke. The walkers will leave on their own," I say with a smile. I get a few chuckles, but keep walking. Then I turn around and yell, "Be safe Glenn." Glenn perks up and smiles.  
I notice Michonne made it back from her two week long run, only to tag along on this one.  
I reach the bin where we keep the metal poles that we use to kill the walkers and pull one out. I head over to where the walkers are piling up. There's about five others on fence duty. Tom and Axel. Then two men I don't know and a woman with curly brown hair.  
"Why are they building up so bad on this part," I ask the brunette beside me as I stab a walker.  
"We're not sure, but they do seem to concentrate on this one length of fence. You're Katie, right," she asks. I nod my head.  
"And what's your name," I ask.  
"I'm Karen," she says stretching her hand to shake mine. I take it. Then we both go back to stabbing walkers.  
"Ah, the infamous Karen," I say smiling.  
"Uh oh. What have you heard,"she says smiling back.  
"Oh, just that you and one Tyrese Williams have gotten rather close," I say with a chuckle that again turns into a little cough. "I hate colds," I grumble.  
"Tell me about it. I've been feeling like I'm coming down with something here lately," she says sympathetically.  
We work in silence for awhile, well apart from the moans of the walkers and the rattling of the fence every time one of us stabs one. My arms have that tired feeling after not being used for awhile. I notice Karen keeps glancing at me.  
"Hey, maybe you need another day," she says concerned. I shake my head, but stop and lean on the pole for a bit.  
"No, it will just get worse. You know how it is, you need to move around or you just ache more. Now, Karen, I love Ty like a big brother. He may look intimidating, but he's really a teddy bear," I hear Axel chuckle at that, "What I'm saying is, please don't lead him on if you don't see something with him. I know its none of my business. So, that's all I'll say on it," I tell her. I gather myself and go back to clearing the fence. I notice she stopped and is looking at me.  
"I would never purposely hurt him. I'm in, if he is," she says. I look at her and smile.  
"Good," I say.

Karen and I are sitting together outside eating lunch watching Gracie play with some chalk. Then Merle shows up to ruin it.  
"Hey Tinkerbelle. You've come to grace us with your presence I see. Did you have a good vacation while everyone else was working their ass off," he says plopping down next to us.  
"Fuck off Merle. You know I was sick," I say while glaring at the ground. Luckily Gracie is far enough to where she can't hear us. That's all I need is her dropping the f bomb in the middle of lunch time. Karen's eyes get big, but she remains quiet.  
"Woah ho ho. You kiss my brother with that mouth," he says then gets an evil glint in his eye. "I'm sure you do a lot more then kiss with that mouth. Tell me what was it that had my brother in such a good mood this morning." I turn to him and glare.  
"Listen you little asshole. I promised your brother I would try to tolerate you, but that's just when he's around. Do you see that little girl," I say pointing to Gracie. "That's the little girl you made all those threats about. I could forgive you for everything you did to me, but I could never forgive what you said about her. Empty threat or not. We are not friends and we never will be. You're the unfortunate in-law I have to deal with. From now on when Daryl's around we'll be civil to each other, but when he's not here we don't interact. Got it," I say. Then stand up and walk away. Before I make it two steps a wave of dizziness comes over me and I stumble. I feel someone catch me and when I look I see its Merle. I go to pull away, but he tightens his hold.  
"I don't care what you think I'm taking you to the doc. Daryl would kill me if anything happened to you while I was here," he says pulling me along.  
"Wait. Gracie go back to Carol ok," I call to her.  
"Don't worry I'll make sure she gets there," Karen says. I nod my thanks to her. I still pull away from Merle.  
"I don't need you to hold me up. I can get there myself, but if it makes you feel better you can walk with me," I say bitingly.  
We walk in silence, until we're almost to Herschel's office. Then Merle stops me.  
"Look, I know I can never take back what I said, but just know I never would've done it. If I knew you were Daryl's girl I wouldn't've laid a hand," I snort and he smiles slightly, "or hook on ya. I just wanted to find my brother. The Governor was helping me look. So, I did whatever he told me. I have my brother back, but I still see this look that wasn't there before. If it makes you feel better. He beat the shit outta me the first time we went into the woods. Never felt him hit that hard before," he says rubbing his jaw like he could still feel it. I look at him and turn away to walk to Herschel's office, but stop. I don't turn around I take a deep breath.  
"Merle, I'll try. I'm not promising anything, but I understand a little bit better and I'll try," I say glancing behind me at him. He nods.  
"Well, I don't want no kumbaya lets hug and be bffs moment. I just want you to stop looking at me like you're plotting my murder. Go get checked out," he says and turns around to leave.  
I head into Herschel's little office and see he's alone.  
"Katie, do you need more cold medicine," he asks from his desk starting to rise. I shake my head.  
"No, I've been thinking for the past couple of days that there's something more going on. I talked with Sasha earlier this morning and it confirmed some of my thoughts," I take a deep breath. "Herschel, I think I might be pregnant. I'm not sure. That's why I need you, to either confirm or deny."  
Herschel pauses for a minute, but then goes into professional mode.  
"When was your last cycle? Have you had any morning sickness?"  
"I'm not sure. I think I had one last month. No morning sickness, just some dizziness and my boobs, uh, breasts, I mean, are a little tender and uh, I've been wanting to spend some more one on one time with Daryl lately," I stutter out while blushing. Herschel tries not to laugh, but loses.  
"Ok. I have a few pregnancy tests. Maggie had a scare earlier. She doesn't know I know and I would appreciate that you don't let on that you do," he says while opening a drawer in his desk and slipping me a test. "It's best to do first thing in the morning, but it will be fine if you want to take it now," he says indicating the little bath room off his office. I look down at the little box.  
Honestly, it shouldn't come as much of a shock. Daryl and I weren't very careful half the time, stupid I know. What if I am and Daryl doesn't want to be a dad? Or what if he thinks I did it purposely because I made that comment about him being a good dad?  
"Katie," Herschel says. I jolt up and look at him.  
"I'll take it now," I say and go to the little bathroom. I go to sit down on the toilet, it was one of Herschel's request to have a functional sanitary bathroom for obvious reasons. I read the directions, I know you just pee on it, but with me there is a slight chance I do it wrong. Then I open the box and get the test ready.  
As soon as I go to clean up, the test changes. It said it was going to take five minutes, but I guess it didn't need that long. I read the box again just to double check. Yep, two lines. I sit down on the floor and stare at it for awhile. Herschel finally knocks on the door.  
"Katie you ok," he asks concerned. I debate on whether to lie and tell him it was negative, but quickly shake that idea off. Instead, I open the door and show him the test. He smiles. "Well congratulations," he says while moving to sit on the floor outside the bathroom. I look at him in shock and realize I have tears coming down.  
"Herschel, this is an awful world to bring a baby in," I say.  
"Nonsense. Is it great? No, but what other choice do we have. Not moving forward, not planting roots and starting families that's what scares me. That would be the end of the world. The day we stop trying to grow is the day that we lose. Now, have you and Daryl talked about starting a family," Herschel says softly. I shake my head.  
"He doesn't think he would be a good dad, or maybe that's just his excuse because he doesn't want to be one," I say, but before I finish Herschel is shaking his head.  
"If he didn't want to be a dad, he would have left you alone. You already had a little one. I think like most men he's scared. I remember when Maggie's mother told me she was pregnant. I nearly had a heart attack. Granted I wasn't at my best then, but when I seen that little girl for the first time my entire being changed for the better. I wasn't perfect. God knows I made mistakes, but no one could call me an unloving father. I was better with Bethy. Maggie doesn't remember a whole lot of the bad times, which I'm thankful for. What I'm trying to say is if I can call myself an alright father during my drunk times then Daryl is already miles ahead of me," he says. I snort.  
"I'm not the one to convince. I know he will be good because he is amazing with Gracie. I just don't know how he'll take it," I say wiping my face.  
"He'll be shocked at first and then he'll get used to it. Just like any other man would," Herschel says assuredly. I smile at him.  
"Can we keep this between us for now," I say.  
"That goes without saying my dear," Hershel says. I help him up and he heads back to his desk and pulls open the same drawer the test came out of.  
"Here I have some multivitamins. They're not as great as prenatal, but you'll need them," he says passing me the bottle. I take them gently.  
"Thanks Herschel," I say. He nods then I hear someone hollering my name. I smile, "I guess they made it back." I pop my head out of the office and see Daryl heading my way.  
"Merle said you had to see Herschel cause you nearly fainted," he says worriedly. He's looking me over like he expects a sign saying what was wrong. I roll my eyes.  
"I just got a little dizzy. Herschel thinks my irons low. So now I have these vitamins to take," I say shaking the bottle. Daryl looks relieved.  
"Alright, I need to go talk to Beth then," he says. I look at him close then.  
"What happened," I ask.  
"Zack," is all he says, but that's all that needs to be said. I nod my head.  
"I'll follow you up. Thanks Herschel," I call over my shoulder.  
"Not a problem," he says.  
I'll tell Daryl later when he's not so tense. I'll tell him when he's in a happier mood. This isn't a bad thing. We'll make it work.

AUTHORS NOTE: Yes, I know you hate me. And I've been thinking a lot lately and unfortunately I have to lose the prison. Do you like that Katie is pregnant or not? It's not going to be and easy pregnancy. You'll see why. Please leave reviews they are the best thing and make me oh so happy. Also I just read this over again and realized its almost all talking and hardly any descriptions. I'll try to work on that unless you guys don't mind. Let me know


	15. Chapter 15

I'm sorry I haven't updated in awhile. I have personal things going on, but I'm back on track so here we go. I'm going to speed through the sickness. Mostly cause I can't remember much of that episode and I'm lazy and don't feel like rewatching it right now...don't hate me please.

 **Chapter 15**

I'm alone, for the first time since this all started, I'm completely and utterly alone. No Gracie. No Sasha. No Glenn. And no Daryl.  
Merle told me to find somewhere safe and wait for Daryl, but nowhere is safe. The daycare wasn't safe. The prison wasn't safe. I hold in a sob and keep running. I'm making to much noise, but I need to get far away.  
I nearly trip over some train tracks. I stop and try to catch my breath. I stare at the tracks twisting the rings on my necklace. Then decide to follow them.  
I grip Merle's knife tight in my hand and let my mind wonder to before all hell broke loose.  
 **4 days ago**  
"If everyone who's sick is being quarantined, then she should be too. Or is that just for us Woodbury resident's," some man says with a nasty snarl. Daryl is standing in front of me with his hand behind him holding mine. Sasha and Carol are standing on either side of me with their guns ready. There's about five Woodbury residents standing around us.  
"And we already told you she doesn't have the same symptoms as the others. She's been sick for nearly a week and nothings happened," Daryl yells back.  
"Exactly, she is probably what started it in the first place," some woman yelled stabbing her finger in my direction.  
I close my eyes and lean into Daryl's back. We woke up to gun fire and screaming. When it was all said and done we found out that Patrick and Ben died from some flu like illness and came back nearly killing half of Cell Block D. They decided anyone sick needs to be moved to Cell Block A to keep it from spreading and that's where the issues arose.  
"Look, after what happened to Karen. I ain't going in there without some protection. None of your people will touch Katie," the man spits out. I grimace. Karen and another's body was found burned to a crisp not but a few hours after they were quarantined. Ty was devastated and pissed. He's on the war path now.  
"We don't know who did that, but we're not ok with it," Daryl yells. The man rolls his eyes.  
"Words mean nothing. I need action. Show us that she's no different than us," he says nodding his head in my direction.  
"What's this," Herschel's voice cuts through. Daryl throws his hand up in the direction of the people who want to put me in quarantine.  
"They want Katie in Cell Block A," he says harshly. Herschel looks at me startled and I know he's thinking of the baby.  
"Katie displays none of the symptoms the others had," he says steadily.  
"Man, that's what I've been saying," Daryl says frustrated. I sigh pressing my forehead between Daryl's shoulder blades. There's only one way to keep the Woodbury residents from anarchy, so to speak.  
"I'll do it," I say. I feel Daryl stiffen. I pull away and he turns around looking at me like I betrayed him. "Daryl, they're right. If someone else was sick, like me, you would want them far from Gracie and me."  
"Katie," Herschel says harshly. "If you go in there, you will get this sickness. Your immune system is already low due to your cold," he cuts his eyes at the Woodbury group when he says cold, "and your low iron," he says seriously. I nod my head to let him know I got it what he was trying to say.  
"I'll try to isolate myself further," I say hesitantly.  
"Katie," Daryl nearly growls. I refuse to look at him.  
"If she's going, then I'm going in," Herschel says. I notice Carol glance at me and then Herschel. I see her eyes get big, but she remains quiet. Sasha has remained suspiciously quiet and when I look at her I see she's sweating a little more than normal. I hope she's not sick too.  
"Katie," Daryl says grabbing my chin and making me look at him. "You promised. Only if Gracie was in danger," he says gritting his teeth.  
"Isn't she? If I die-" Daryl cuts me off by slashing his hand in the air, but I see he's thinking about it now. The horrible thought that if I die Gracie would be the one closest to me. I shudder at the thought and nearly puke, but I swallow it back. He takes a deep breath and releases through his nose.  
"I swear to God Katie. I swear if you, if anything, I swear to God. You have not seen me angry," I wrap my arms around him to stop him from talking. Thankfully he doesn't hesitate to wrap his around me. He holds me tightly. Whispering more 'I swears' into my ear.

I tell Daryl to tell Gracie that I'll see her soon. Daryl walks me all the way there and I don't think he's going to leave, but I smile at him.  
"It's ok. I'll be fine. I grabbed a few books. I might enjoy some peace and quiet," I say trying to lighten the mood.  
"Don't," Daryl says quietly. "Katie, please don't do this. I'm begging you," Daryl says. The look in his eyes makes me want to cry, but I steal myself.  
"Daryl, if you don't want to deal with a war between us and Woodbury on top of this flu, then this is what I need to do," I say. Daryl huffs and looks away. I put my hand on his cheek and he kisses my palm.  
"Katie, I love you. You know that right," he whispers. I don't think my smile could have gotten any bigger. Daryl doesn't say it often, but I know he means it when he does.  
"I know and I love you too," I say and kiss him quickly. I don't linger, if I did I would never leave. So, I give him a quick kiss and dart into the cell block. I turn as the door closes behind me making a loud slam. I see Daryl on the other side. He nods his head at me and mouths 'stay safe' to me. I nod and mouth 'you too'.

I tried. I really tried to separate from everyone else, but when Glenn and Sasha entered all bets were off. Herschel came in and helped everyone making a tea for us to drink. I aided Herschel. He wanted me in my cell away from everyone, but Sasha and Glenn were getting sicker and sicker. So he relented and let me help. By the third day, I knew I had it. Herschel worried over me.  
"Herschel, I'm not even the worst one. Please, go help the others. I'll be ok," I say coughing.  
"My other patients aren't pregnant. You shouldn't have came in here Katie. We would have figured something out to placate the others," Herschel says.  
"Now is not the time for I told you so's Herschel," I say smiling slightly to let him know I was joking. He just stares at me. Then shakes his head and mumbles something about checking the others out.

The fourth day was when all hell broke loose. Everything happens in a dream like state. Slowly, almost like going through a movie frame by frame, but when I blink we skip three frames. There's a battle in quarantine. Blink. Then we hear gunfire going off like crazy outside. Blink. Maggie comes busting through the barrier glass. Blink. I'm trying to help Glenn breathe until Herschel can get the bag off of the guy who died. Long blink.  
Maggie and Herschel save Glenn and I think I see Daryl come in, but I pass out.  
I wake up in our cell and Daryl is standing against the wall. It reminds me of when I got back from Woodbury. I smile at him, but he doesn't smile back.  
"What happened," I ask. "We heard gun fire." Daryl grunts.  
"Fence went down. Rick and Carl took care of it," it sounds like he's forcing the words out.  
"Come on Daryl. Save the lecture for later. I missed you," I say reaching my hand out to him. For a minute I thought he wasn't going to take it, but he pushes off the wall and starts coming towards me.  
Right before he reaches me there's a loud blast and the whole prison shakes. I look at Daryl with wide eyes.  
"What the hell was that," I say.  
"I don't know, but stay here," Daryl says while running out of the cell.  
I get up anyway and get dressed. I need to find Gracie. As I'm tying my shoes, I see the blanket move. When I look up its Merle.  
"Merle, I don't have time right now I need to find Gracie. Then I need to find Daryl and figure out what that noise was, or do you know," I ask, but then I really look at Merle.  
"The noise was Kenny. He brought a tank. I'm in here with you to make sure ya don't do anything stupid that could and will hurt my brother," he says calmly.  
"What? What would I do? Did you say Kenny," I ask standing up. What's going on?  
"All I know is the string bean came back with a tank and is demanding we all leave. Well, everyone but you Tinkerbelle. He thinks you're here under duress," Merle says with his smirk.  
"What?! That little asshole. I'll go out there and set it straight," I say starting to leave the cell. Merle snags his arm around my waist.  
"Ya see, that's why I'm here," Merle says. Then the building shakes again and we hear gun fire. I look at Merle with startled eyes. Merle looks like he's having in argument with himself.  
"Grab your shit. We're getting out of here," he says.  
"What," I nearly scream.  
"Grab whatever you need. We're getting out of here," he says. I just stand there looking at him. He growls and reaches forward grabbing my arm.  
"Fine, don't bother getting anything," he says dragging me out of the cell.  
"Hey what are you doing? We can't leave! They need our help," I scream while hitting him over and over trying to get him to let go. He swings around looking at me.  
"I'm keeping a promise to my brother. I promised him I would save ya if he ever couldn't. So, I'm getting you out. Then I'll come back and help," he shouts at me. Then grabs my arm again. I'm too shocked to fight it.  
We make it out of Cell Block C to get on his motorcycle. We're attacked with a barrage of sound. The moans of the walkers and screams of our people and the gun fire. Always gun fire. The prison, our home, is gone. I pull back and hear him growl again, but my sense suddenly comes back. I look at Merle in a panic.  
"We need to get Gracie! I'm not leaving without her," I yell to be heard over all the noise.  
We hear a car motor going and see the yellow bus driving away.  
"She's on the bus. Lets go," he says.  
"No, I have to know," I go to run back in the prison and run straight into a walker. I freeze and I know I'm going to die, but suddenly I hear a yell and Merle kills it.  
"Come on, there's no going back," Merle says. We get on the bike and drive away.  
"Follow the bus! Follow the bus," I yell over the roar of the motorcycle. He nods in agreement.

It takes us a minute to catch up to the bus, but when we do it's not good. I scream. The bus crashed or something went wrong. As soon as Merle stops the bike, I hop off and run over. I go to open the door, but there's a walker inside the bus! I look over at Merle tears are just coming down.  
"I have to know. I have to know," I say trying to hold in the sobs. Merle nods and goes to open the door.  
He kills the walker and we enter the bus. Everyone's dead. They're going to turn anytime. Merle hands me his hunting knife and he each start stabbing the heads, me using the borrowed knife him his hook.  
The faces all blur, familiar but unimportant. They aren't who I'm looking for. I sigh.  
"She didn't get on the bus. Maybe someone found her. We need to go back. See if we can regroup with our people," I say. Turning to Merle. He's leaning heavily on one of the seats and is sweating.  
"Well, darling there's a slight problem in that plan. Besides the fact the bike has next to no gas, there's this," he pulls down the his shirt to reveal a bite.  
"Oh my god, Merle," I say and walk over to look at it. "When did that happen? I didn't see him bite you."  
"Happened at the prison. The fucker came up behind me when I went to help you," he says swaying slightly. I help him out to the road and set him down. I squat beside him.  
"Merle, what do I do," I say. He looks at me and I see him pull a little hand gun from his belt. He holds it in his hand.  
"Survive. Go hide somewhere safe till Daryl finds ya. I'll give you a five minute headstart. The walkers will be attracted to the gun," he says calmly. I look at him confused. He holds up the gun. "I got one bullet left. I ain't turning into one of those things." I back up nodding in understanding.  
"Can ya do me a favor though Tinkerbelle," he asks, still fiddling with the gun.  
"Anything," I say. I see him smirk and immediately think he's going to say something lewd, but before I can take back my promise he answers.  
"Can ya name the pipsqueak after me. Maybe a middle name," he says looking at me. I fall back on my butt.  
"How? How did you know," I ask. He shrugs.  
"It was obvious. You're not good at keeping secrets," he says, too cocky. I squint my eyes at him.  
"You listened at the door, didn't you," I accuse. He smiles, a real smile not a smirk.  
"Yeah, you're my brothers girl. I wanted to be sure ya were ok," he looks at me serious now. "He'll make a good dad, but it will take him awhile to believe it. Don't give up on him," he says. I don't realize I'm crying till he tells me to grow a pair. I wipe my face.  
"Better go princess. I'm not feeling to hot and I want ya far away from me when the gun goes off," he says. I nod and stand up. I go to the edge of the road, but stop. I turn around to look at him.  
"If its a girl, you're shit out of luck with the name," I say. Merle looks at me shocked. Then throws his head back and laughs.  
"Fair enough girly, now run," he says with a half smile.  
I run and run. I stop for a second when I hear the gun go off in the distance, but only for a second.  
 **Now**  
I'm following these tracks for reasons I don't know, but I feel like if I keep following them I'll find something. And then I do.  
I see a sign and when I go to read it I smile. This is it. My group would follow these signs. The sign was simple: 'Sanctuary for all. Terminus: those who arrive survive. Follow the tracks.' So, I do.

Authors note: So, I was originally going to have Terminus in this, but I feel like that will be a whole other chapter. And this chapter is probably messed up too. Like I said I can't center anything or indent the paragraphs right. Also, last chapter I had to copy and paste it. So fingers crossed I can actually upload this instead


	16. Chapter 16

. Ok so I'm going to be switching points of view now. I might not get back to Katie for awhile. I hope I can pull this off. I'm so sorry about the long wait. I'm so frustrated about my chapters not doing what I want, that it makes me not want to write. Luckily I'm getting help though from I'm a Nerd and Proud! So please don't give up on me!  
 **Chapter 16**  
 **Daryl's pov**  
I'm trying to push my way through a wall of walkers. I need to get back to Katie and Gracie. A picture of Katie laying in our bed looking pale and weak flashes through my head. She can't survive on her own and she definitely can't keep her and Gracie alive. Damn her for getting sick. And damn Kenny for thinking he can own her.  
Over the moans of the walkers I hear a scream behind me. A female scream. I immediately think of Katie, even though a voice in my head tells me its not her. I rush to the sound, killing walkers as I go. I find Beth. I don't hesitate to help, even though my stomach drops seeing that its not Katie.  
"C'mon," I yell at Beth. She follows me through the maze of walkers. I glance back and know there's no way to get in the prison. I can only hope that Katie and Gracie got out together and found someone to help them.

It's been two days since the prison fell. A whole forty-eight hours since I seen Katie, longer since I heard Gracie yelling my name through the cells asking where I was hiding. My heart hurts equally for them both.  
I wish I hugged Gracie one more time before I sent her off to stay with Beth during quarantine. I wish I told Katie I loved her more, but my biggest regret is not grabbing her hand when she reached out to me. That image of her holding her hand out haunts me with every stolen breath I take. I should be dead. I should be dead for not trying harder to get to her. I didn't save her like I promised I would. Instead I saved someone else.  
Beth. How did I get stuck with Beth? She's just a kid. Worse a kid grieving her father. I worry she's going to try to do what she did at the farm. She keeps prattling on about tracking them down, but its no good. I wouldn't know who or what I'm tracking. I don't tell her this though I stay quiet and follow her when she storms off. I'm not going to let her get herself killed.

I finally understand why Beth wants a drink. Its not the drink so much as what it stands for. Had the world not ended, she would have surly already had her first taste. I understand her better. Now, I'm sitting down drinking moonshine playing some stupid drinking game with a kid that's never drank.  
"I've never been in jail," she states. I can't explain it but that statement goes through me.  
"That what you think of me," I nearly growl out while rubbing my chin. She looks scared all of a sudden.  
"I just meant like the drunk tank. Even my dad got in there," she stammers to explain. I narrow my eyes.  
"Drink," I say.  
"Wait, were you a prison guard? Was that your job," she says. This only pisses me off further. It reminds me of Zack, which leads me to think of the last normal day I had with Katie.  
I just look at her. She has the grace to look down ashamed.  
"Now it's your turn," she says uncertainly.  
"I need to take a piss," I say and walk away. Beth says something, but I don't care. " What? Can't hear you I'm taking a piss." I know I'm being too loud, but I don't give fuck anymore. "Oh wait it's my turn right? I've never ate frozen yogurt before. Never had a pet pony. Never got nothing from Santa Claus. Never relied on someone for protection before! Never sung out in the middle of a big group before. Like everything was ok! And I sure as shit never cut my wrist looking for attention before," Beth keeps trying to calm me down, but I'm to far gone. A part of me feels bad this anger isn't at her, but the other part blames her for not being able to find Katie and Gracie.  
My yelling has got the attention of a walker.  
"Oh look our friend is back. You never shot a crossbow before, right," I say grabbing her arm and pulling her along outside.  
"Daryl, stop," Beth says trying to pull my hand off her, but I don't let go. I try to make her shoot the crossbow, but the minute I stand behind her my mind flashes to when I did this very thing with Katie. Beth stabs the walker in the head while I'm still lost in my memory.  
"What did you do that for. We were having fun," I say.  
"No, you were being a jackass," she screams.  
"Whatcha want from me," I yell.  
"I want you to stop acting like it don't matter! Like nobody mattered! Like Katie.."  
"Don't," I say cutting her off with a hand motion, "Don't say her name."  
Beth walks closer to me.  
"She can still be alive Daryl," she whispers.  
"Doesn't matter. She might as well be dead. I ain't ever gonna see em again. Rick. Maggie. You ain't ever gonna see her again," my voice raises without me meaning too and I guess I started crying at some point. Beth moves in to hug me and I let her. I can just hear Merle now.  
"Stop being a pussy. You got a chick comforting you, should be the other way around baby brother. Maybe do some horizontal comforting. If you know what I mean." I let out a watery chuckle thinking about it and then realize he's probably gone too. Somehow, I end up hugging Beth back.

Beth and I are sitting on the porch.  
"She was the first person that I could rely on. Every time I turned around she was there. Even when I didn't want her to be. She never looked down on me," I stop and chuckle, "even when she accused me of being a thief. She didn't see me as some dumb hick. Not once.  
"The first time I seen her, shit, she was covered in dirt, her hair a tangled greasy mess, but all I seen was these blue eyes looking at me with this desperate hope. You want to know when I knew she was safe to join us," I ask looking up at Beth. She nods her head.  
"When I seen Gracie. Here this filthy woman was and then I look over and see this little kid who only looks a little dirty and wearing clean clothes. That was when. She took good care of the kid. Then when we went to her house and I realized the kid wasn't even hers, that's when I knew she would fit right in."  
"We can find them Daryl. We just got to look. I believe they're still alive. Glenn, Maggie, Rick, Carl, Michonne all of them. We just need to look," Beth says. I look at her and nod my head. I don't think she could smile any bigger if she tried. "But first lets burn this down." I smile at that.  
"You done drinking," I say nodding at her jar.  
Next thing I know we're smashing jars of moonshine on the walls and floors. We run out and I light a stack of cash I took from the country club on fire and throw it in the house. Beth nudges me and I see she's flipping the house off. I do too. Its a fuck you to everyone in my past that told me I wouldn't be anything but some hick and to the voice that tells me I don't deserve Katie.  
I notice some walkers coming toward the house I nudge Beth and we turn and run off. And for the first time I believe we're going to find them.

Ok so I didn't have this chapter edited because I made you guys wait for ever for this chapter. I am so so sorry, but writing Daryl's point of view is hard, but I really hope you guys like it. Hopefully, next chapter will be quicker. And it wont be all squished together.


	17. Chapter 17

Hopefully, I get this one edited so its easier to read for you, but if I take forever like last time I'll just upload it. I feel bad making you guys wait. Alright onward and upward. (Btw this one is a lot closer to the show because I was watching the episode and pausing it. Then I would write and then unpause it.)  
 **Chapter 17**  
 **Sasha's pov**  
I'm wrapping Bobs arm and sneaking glances at Maggie sharpening her knife on the rock. I hear a small disturbance in the water and see Gracie has her hands in the water lightly splashing. I can't believe I found her.

 **The Prison Flashback**  
I was standing by Maggie after we had just seen Kenny kill her father and shortly after, all hell broke loose. The gunfire and the moans of the walkers rang in my ears. It was nothing but pure chaos.  
Through the gun smoke, I saw the bus drive off. I was blindly following Maggie and Bob when I heard a tiny voice. I shouldn't have been able to have heard it above all the noise, but I did.  
"Wait, Maggie. Wait," I said desperately and looked over to where it came from. I don't know how, but I knew who it was. Before I could say her name Bob screamed out. When I looked up I saw his arm bleeding and him clutching it.  
"Sasha we have to go," Maggie said while helping Bob. I looked around to see if I could spot her. Then a memory popped in my head.  
"No more hiding Gracie," I all but shouted. And there she was. Her little body sliding out from under a parked car. She looked at me with wide, scared eyes. I didn't hesitate, I swept her up in my arms and turned back to see the startled look on Maggie's face.  
"Come on," I said.  
 **End of flashback**  
I know Katie is dead. Theres no way Gracie would've been on her own otherwise. I notice Bob smiling. I glare at him.  
"Sorry," he says.  
"You can smile. You're alive. I get it," I say reluctantly as I finish tying his bandage.  
"That's not it," he says. I just ignore him.  
"Ty could have gotten out Sasha. _Katie_ could have gotten out," he says. I glance over to make sure Gracie didn't hear her name. Luckily she's absorbed in swirling a leaf in the water.  
"We don't know if anyone got out," I say getting up to walk over to Maggie.  
"No we do," he says. I turn around and walk to Maggie.  
"How's he doing," Maggie asks.  
"Bleedings stopped. He should be fine," I say. I look around at Gracie again she is standing up now and looking at me. I smile slightly at her and my heart contracts a bit when she doesn't smile back. Her smiles used to come so easy. I turn back to Maggie.  
"We have the water to our backs and some pretty good vantage points from the bank. I say we camp here for the night," I say. Maggie stands up.  
"That's good. You all will be safe here. The bus got out. Glenn got out. I'm gonna find him," she says.  
"Maggie with any luck the bus is gone," I say as gently as I can.  
"It was heading east. If I follow in that direction I can track him," she says with all the confidence in the world.  
Now my irritation starts bubbling up. I understand about loss. My brother and Katie are both gone, but I know they would want me to keep living and most of all protect Gracie. So, that's what I'm going to do and that's easier done with three people not two.  
"Alone with that," I say pointing to her knife, not hiding my anger.  
"I'm out of ammo so yes. I couldn't find Beth, but I know Glenn got out. So, I'm gonna go get him and I'm going to come back for y'all. We both are," she says. I look at Bob to see if he's hearing this crazy shit she's spewing. Of course Optimistic Bob doesn't say anything against her.  
"Maggie," I try again.  
"I'm going," she says.  
"We shouldn't split up," I say. She still walks away. Bob is putting his sweater on following.  
"You said it. We shouldn't split up," he says.  
I stand there for a minute in shock, until I feel a little hand go into mine. I look down at Gracie's little face. So serious now.  
"We going Sasha," she asks in a whisper. Its the first thing she's said since I found her besides telling me if she had to go potty. I sigh. I can't keep her alive on my own.  
"Yep, come on pipsqueak," I say a nickname that used to get a giggle out of her, but nothing. No frown. No twitch of the lips. Her mouth makes a straight line across her face. I'm worried we wont ever get her back.  
~~~~~~~~

I'm holding Gracie's hand walking by Bob down a road following Maggie.  
"You could have helped me stop her," I whisper. So neither Gracie or Maggie hear me. Bob looks at me and starts coughing. I roll my eyes. "If you're trying to make me feel sorry for you, it isn't working."  
"Damn, it means I got shot up for nothing," he says.  
"The odds of us finding him. Of finding anyone," I let that thought hang there. "We should be out looking for food. Shelter. We have Gracie to think about."  
"Yeah, but then what," he says.  
"What? You don't want to live. You don't want Gracie somewhere safe," i say slightly angry.  
"That's not what I mean. We survive just to keep surviving," he asks.  
"Shit happens. Not everything has to mean something. I need to keep Gracie safe. For Katie and Daryl," I whisper the names, but I still feel her hand tighten her grip. I look down at her.  
"Where is momma and Drole," she asks quietly.  
"Um I'm not sure, but we'll look for them. Ok," I say. She gives a shaky little nod. I look up to see Bob smiling at me. I roll my eyes.  
"Shut up. What was I supposed to say," I whisper quieter then I had been. He just nods his head to Maggie like that was his whole point.  
We follow a bend in the road and come face to face with the object of our search. Only its not the site we wished to see. It looks like there was a crash. Theres a motorcycle parked begin it.  
Maggie runs up to the bus. Bob goes after her. I don't understand how it happened, but theres a part of me that had hoped to find the bus with survivors on it. With Katie on it. I feel so inadequate to take care of her little girl. I feel awful, but I wish someone was here that could take responsibility for her.  
Maggie runs to the emergency exit. I try to stop her, but she pushes my arms away.  
"I have to know," she says and I understand, because I do too.  
"Alright, Gracie stay with Bob," I say. I look over at Bob and he nods his head and places a hand on her shoulder.  
Maggie and I climb up into the bus. She starts checking all the males immediately. I start looking at everybody to see who is here.  
"Somebody found them already dead. They took care of it before they turned. I wonder what happened. How did a bus full of people just die," I say. I come across a brunette female and hold my breath even though the hair is to short. I release my breath when I notice it isn't Katie.  
I look up at Maggie who is sitting on one of the seats, crying. I cautiously walk up to her. When I reach her I notice she's smiling.  
"He's not here," she says relieved. I nod my head.  
"Neither is she," I whisper. Maggie looks up at me startled. Yeah theres more than just Glenn missing. I walk down the aisle and hop down from the bus.  
Bob looks up at me from where he and Gracie were sitting on the side of the road. I shake my head no and he smiles.  
I look at the bike then. I notice its Daryl's. I run over there and notice what appeared to be a body, or what was left of it. Its laying beside the bike. When I see its right hand I know who it is.  
"Oh my gosh its Merle," I say without thinking. Theres a gun beside him, but its empty. He must have gotten bit and then took himself out. While I'm bending over checking him, I see some scratches on the side of the motorcycle tank. I take a closer look and gasp.  
"What," I hear Maggie say. She startles me, because I didn't hear her approach. I just point to the scratches. She leans forward to see them and her eyes get big.  
"Oh my god," she says, by then Bob comes up to see what we're looking at. I look up at him and he smiles real big at me.  
"Well lets go," he says. And for the first time I feel hopeful.  
"Come on Gracie. We're going to look for your momma," I say. I glance back at the scratches that Merle must have made with his hook right before he shot himself.  
Katie alive.  
~~~~~~~~~

We've been following the train tracks that we're pretty sure Katie would've followed. Maggie and I got in an argument the previous day. She ran up and killed a walker then gutted it with no warning and started using its blood to make a sign. She did it right I front of Gracie. I yelled at her for scaring Gracie and she apologized and said next time she'll warn us.  
"We know we're following Katie, but I don't know about Glenn. So, I'm going to make more signs and he can follow them," she said. Then walks off. After that Bob, Gracie and I would go somewhere she couldn't see while Maggie made her signs for Glenn.  
Now we're standing outside of a tunnel debating whether or not to go through it or around it.  
"There is no way in hell. We're going in there," I say looking at Maggie and pointing into the dark tunnel.  
"Momma says I'm not supposed to say hell. Even though Drole says it all the time," Gracie says. She's been talking a lot more since I told her we're going to find Katie.  
"Its faster to go through it," Maggie says.  
"Yeah, but more dangerous. Do you not here those moans," I say.  
"It echoes. It could very well be only one or two. Which we can more than handle," Maggie says.  
"I'm not risking Gracie like that," I say sternly.  
"Here I can take my backpack off and Gracie can get on my back. I'll put the backpack back on and she can put her legs through the straps. That way it will be hard for her to fall or get pulled off," Bob says taking his back pack off. I don't like it, but I agree.  
It takes a minute to get her situated. We also decided to put Bobs sweater on both of them. That way she's snug on his back. Maggie and I are going to have to protect him because his movement will be limited, but its better than her getting separated from us somehow.  
Gracie giggled at the whole situation which lightened the mood a bit, but we were all still tense.  
"Ready," I ask not looking at Maggie and we step into the darkness.

Ok so I would like to have someone look over my chapters and edit them. Like indent the paragraphs center the heading. I had someone, but I'm awful and don't know proper etiquette for this. Also maybe she got caught up in real life. I'm not mad I understand. I hope you guys like this chapter. At least you find out where Gracie was. Fun fact had to rewrite half of this because I forgot I had Merle and Katie clear the bus already. Anyway I always love reviews. I'm pretty sure next chapter will be spilt Sasha and Daryl's point of view. (I had to copy and paste this story. It wont let me just upload it.)


	18. Chapter 18

So, I have decided that 'The One' by Kodaline is Daryl and Katie's song. Just saying. Anyway I get to go to walker stalker this year! I'm super stoked. I have skipped around a little cause I'm not sure how to write certain parts, but the faster I get past it the faster we get to Alexandria, right?! So onwards and upwards.

 **CHAPTER 18**  
 **DARYL'S POV**  
I'm sitting on the ground leaning against a car next to Rick, who's covered in blood. I hand him my bottle of water and a rag.  
"No, we should save it to drink," he rumbles out.  
"You can't see yourself, he can," I say moving my head slightly to the car where Michonne and Carl are. He grudgingly takes it and starts wiping the blood off his face. We both sit in silence for awhile.  
"I didn't know what they were. I had a clue, but I thought it was just the one guy. He got his not to long after they found me," I say looking at him and hoping he'll forgive me.  
Rick nods his head slightly while wiping the blood from his face.  
"How did you wind up with them," he says, not accusing just curious.  
"I was with Beth. We got out together. I was with her for awhile," I say keeping my sentences short. I'm still pissed at myself for not getting to her sooner. That damn car is burned in my memory.  
"Is she dead," he asks. I look over at him.  
"She's just gone," I say truthfully. "After that, that's when they found me. I mean I knew they were bad, but they had a code. It was simple. It was stupid, but it was something. It was enough," I say looking down.  
"And you were alone," Rick says.  
"Said they were looking for some guy. Last night they said they spotted him. I was hanging back. I was gonna leave, but I stayed. That's when I saw it was you three. I had to do something," I pause, "I didn't know what they could do," I add quietly.  
"Its not on you," he says, but I still feel like it is. "Hey its not on you. You being back here with us. Now. Its everything," he pauses. "You are my brother."  
Theres a pause both of us soaking that in.  
"Hey, what you did last night, anybody would have done it," he says.  
"No," he says shaking his head. "Not that." I look at him.  
"I would have," I say. My mind flashing to Gracie. Rick looks me in the eye for a minute. Then nods his head. I take a deep breath and decide to ask.  
"Were you-was anyone else," I can't seem to get it out, but Rick looks at me sympathetically and shakes his head.  
"It was just me and Carl. Then Michonne found us. She was alone before," he says. I nod my head looking at the ground. I'm both relieved and disappointed. On one hand theres a chance they're alive on the other hand not knowing is worse. These guys can't be the only bad people out there.

We're following the train tracks like the sign said. Michonne and Rick walking in front of me and Carl. I keep glancing at the kid to see if he's doing alright after last night, but he's looking stoically ahead.  
"You okay," I hear Rick ask Michonne. She looks over at him and nods her head.  
"Yeah," she says.  
"I'm okay," he says.  
"I know," she says never looking away from him.  
"How," Rick says.  
"Cause I'm ok too," she says. We come across another sign that's fallen down.  
"We're getting close. We should be there by sundown," I say. Looking ahead as if I can see some structure emerging from the woods.  
"Now we head through the woods. We don't know who they are," Rick says.  
"Alright," I say agreeing easily. It is the smartest thing to do. It doesn't take long for use yo come up to what appears to be an old factory.  
"We all spread out. Watch for awhile see what we see. We all stay close," Rick says then looks at Carl. " You want to stick with me?"  
"Its alright," Carl says and follows Michonne. I look at Rick and see the guilty look on his face.  
"Anyone would," I remind him. He looks at me and nods. We head the opposite way of Michonne and Carl. Seeing if we can see anything strange happening here at Terminus.  
We decide to hide our weapons in a bag and bury it. At least until we know we can trust these people. We got quite a few nice weapons from the men we had to kill last night. Rick trades his python out for another gun. When I look at him he says just in case.  
We hop the fence coming in around back. We hear a lady making some broadcast. Overall it just seems to easy to get in here. I don't know if its a trap or they're just plain dumb. Regardless, I'm not getting a great feeling from this place.  
We slowly make our way in a big room with about five people. We see an old lady talking into a microphone of some sort.  
"Hello," Rick says walking up to her. She stops and looks a little scared seeing us. I don't blame her. I'm sure we make a sight.  
"Well, I bet Albert is on perimeter watch," some guy says. It looks like they're making more signs. "You here to rob us?"  
"No," Rick says. "We wanted to see you before you saw us."  
"It makes sense. Usually we do this where the tracks meet. Welcome to Terminus. I'm Garrett. It looks like we've been on the road for a good bit," the guy, Garrett, says. Hes too relaxed about us breaking in. Getting past the watch. Something's off here.  
"We have," Rick answers. "I'm Rick. That's Carl. Daryl. Michonne." The creep actually waves. I already know that if we do end up staying here in not going to be hanging around long.  
"You're nervous! I get it. We were all the same way. We came here for sanctuary. That what you here for," Garrett says.  
"Yes," Rick says.  
"Good. You've found it," he says. Then he turns back to the other people. "Hey Alex," another guy starts walking towards us "this isn't as pretty as the front. We don't have anything to hide, but the welcome wagon is a whole lot nicer," he says as Alex makes his way to us. "Alex will take you and answer any of your questions, but first we're going to have to see everyone's weapons. If you could just lay them down in front if you," he says. We all stare at him waiting to see what Rick does.  
"Alright," Rick says pulling his gun and laying it on the floor.  
"I'm sure you understand," Garrett says.  
"Yes I do," Rick says looking up at Garrett. I can't be the only one uncomfortable with this whole thing. Not so much laying our weapons down, but with how accepting they are. We all lay them down our weapons.  
Alex comes to me and started patting me down. He sees the bruises on my face from the beating I got.  
"I'd hate to see the other guy," he says half joking.  
"You would," Rick says dead serious. Alex moves on to Carl.  
"They deserve it," he asks.  
"Yes," Carl says bluntly. I see Rick look at him surprised. Then look at me and that's all the confirmation he needs yo know that he did the right thing.  
"Just so you know we aren't those kind of people, but we're not stupid. And you shouldn't be stupid enough to try anything stupid. As long as we're clear on that we shouldn't have any problems. Just solutions. Okay," Garrett says. Alex hands our weapons back to us.  
"Follow me," he says.  
"How long has this place been here," I ask.  
"Since the start. When other camps got overrun people just started showing up. Think it was instinct, you know, follow a path. Some folks were heading to the coast some north, but they all round up here."  
"Hi," some lady says. "Heard you came in through the back door. Smart. You'll fit right in here."  
How? No one in that room left. How did she know we came in the back door?  
"Hey Mary would you fix each of these new folks a plate for me," Alex says to the woman I assume is Mary. I notice Rick lol uneasy now. He's looking around the courtyard.  
"Why do you do it? Why do you let people in," Michonne asks.  
"More people that become apart of it the strong we get," Alex says. "That's why we put up the signs. Invite people in. Its how we survive." The whole time hes talking Rick is scoping the place out. "Here," he says handing Carl and Michonne a plate.  
Rick walks up to Alex and knocks the food out of his hand and pulls what looks like a watch out of his pocket. He puts a gun to his head. I don't hesitate pulling up my crossbow.  
"Where did you get this watch," Rick asks. That's when I notice its Glenn's watch. That's when I see some riot gear from the prison on somebody.  
"Where the hell did you get this watch," Rick asks again.  
"You want answers," Alex says out of breath. Carl, Michonne and me are all ready for an attack. "You want anything else, you get it when you put down the gun."  
"That guy on the roof with the sniper rifle, how good is his aim? Where'd you get the watch? Where'd you get the watch?!"  
"Don't do anything! I have this! Just put it down! Put it down," Alex yells. Then he talks quieter. "You're gonna wanna listen to me. Theres a lot of us."  
"Where. Did you. Get the. Watch," Rick says the words clearly.  
"I got it off of a dead one. I didn't think he would need it," Alex says his voice going up a couple octaves. Rick nods his head then jerks Alex around.  
"What about the riot gear? The poncho?"  
"Got the riot gear off a dead cop. Found the poncho on a close line," Garrett says causing Rick to jerk Alex around.  
"Garrett if we could wait," Alex begs.  
"Shut up Alex," Garrett says his good host voice gone.  
"You talk to me," Rick demands.  
"What's there left to say? You don't trust us anymore," Garrett says. Hes too calm.  
"Garrett," Alex tries again.  
"Shut. Up," he say holding his hand up.  
"Garrett please," he says.  
"Just breathe okay. Its ok. Rick what do you want," Garrett asks.  
"Where are our people," Rick says.  
"Rick you didn't answer the question."  
Rick turns around as a gun goes off, but it hits Alex instead. Then we're running through the maze of this place. The are shooting guns at us, but not hitting us. They have worse aim then storm troopers. Unless they aren't wanting to hit us.  
We reach a room with candles and names written everywhere. The words Never again, Never trust, We first always, written on the walls.  
"What the hell is this place," I say.  
"These people. I don't think they're trying to kill us," Michonne says.  
"No, they're aiming at our feet," Rick says. "There," he says pointing to a door, but it slams closed. We head through the other door.  
"Go," Rick yells. Guns are going off everywhere. It makes me briefly flash back to the prison, but I shake the feeling. I can't lose my head right now.  
When the gun fire finally stops, we are surrounded by people with guns. That's when I realize they knew we were coming the whole time. They had eyes on us from the moment we jumped the fence. Hopefully, not before then.  
"Drop your weapons, now," Garrett calls from a roof top. "Now!"  
Theres no way we can get out of here so we drop them.  
"Ring leader go to your left. The train car go. You do what we say the boy goes with you. Anything else the boy dies and you go in there anyway," Garrett says. I look at the train car with the letter 'A' spray painted on it. I remember the letter being above some doors as well. Rick goes towards the car.  
"Now the archer." I head to the train car glaring at him. "Now the samurai." Michonne follows in about the same manner as I did.  
We all lined up at the car door. We look down and see food by the door. It looks like somebody dropped it.  
"Stand at the door. Ring leader, archer, samurai. In that order," Garrett dictates.  
"My son," Rick yells.  
"Go kid," Garrett says. "Ring leader open the door and go in."  
"I'll go in with him."  
"Don't make us kill him now," Garrett says sounding frustrated. Rick opens the door after Carl is nearly there. It makes a loud noise. He disappears in the darkness m, but we soon follow. Rick waits by the door till Carl walks in.  
The door slams shut. I hear feet shuffling and immediately think theres walkers in here, but then we hear an unsure voice.  
"Rick," and out steps Glenn.  
"You're here," Rick says. Then I hear a voice I never thought I would hear again.  
"D-role," I scan the group till I find her. She looks like she's been crying. Then all of a sudden I'm on my knees holding her as tight as I can without hurting her. I look up to see where Katie was, but my eyes land on Sasha.  
"She's not here, but I believe she's still alive. Merle left a message saying she was," she glances down. "I'm sorry he was dead long before we got there."  
I take a deep breath and try to stay strong for Gracie. I nod my head at Sasha.  
"Thank you," I say and even I can hear the tears choking my voice. I quickly clear my throat. I stand up still holding Gracie. Refusing to let her go.  
We all look at each other. Its then I notice four people who I don't know. I'm immediately on guard.  
"They're our friends," Maggie says and I relax. I notice Rick relaxing too. "They helped save us," she says looking at Gracie.  
"Yeah, now they're friends of ours," I say running my hand up and down Gracie's back, trying to soothe her as well as me.  
"For however long that'll be," the big red head says.  
"No," Rick says in a hard voice. "they're gonna feel pretty stupid when they find out," he says going to the door and looking out the crack.  
"Find out what," the red head says. Everyone looks at Rick.  
"They're fucking with the wrong people," he says.

Authors note: My all time favorite line! Ok I'm not gonna put spoilers on here for season 7, but oh my gosh! If I make everything happen that happened. Pretty sure Katie will be on a warpath. Hopefully, I post again soon. Between work and family, and like I said this phone isn't the easiest thing to write on, then fan fiction hasn't been letting me just upload I've been having to copy and paste my chapters, I just get frustrated. I have such great ideas for this story, but when I go to write them something happens. I have also been having a Twilight story start sprouting ideas in my head here lately. So, that's not helping. I hope you enjoy! Please review! Thank you! (PS I didn't proof read I'll go back and do that tomorrow)


	19. Chapter 19

Hopefully I get this out soon. I think this will be the last chapter from Daryl's point of view. We are in season 5 though. Alexandria here we come. (sorry for the crap action parts. I'm trying, but I'm not great at writing them. Um ok Carols pov is supposed to be spaced out more because I skipped ahead, but whatever. I'm not as happy with this chapter as I was. It took nearly an hour to upload it. I'm sorry if its awful it gets better...i hope)  
 **Chapter 19**  
 **Daryl's pov**  
"They seemed nice enough, but I was ready to go," Abraham, the big guy with red hair, tells us as we're trying to make weapons out of anything we have. "I know we just got here, but damn, it was time to go. When I told them about D.C. they waited for a nod from the head asshole. They raised their guns and it was back to our regular shit storm."

Another thing we found out was that apparently mullet man, named Eugene, was some sort of genius. He had the cure for this thing. I told him the only cure was a bullet in the brain. Seemed to piss off his two traveling buddies. The Mexican girls name was Rosita and the other was named Tara. I guess I owe them something according to Maggie and Glenn they helped save them, which in turn saved Gracie.

"Before they took you in here, you didn't see Ty, did you," Sasha asks Michonne.

"No," Michonne says shaking her head at her.

"Good," Sasha says.

"It was a black car with a white cross. I tried to follow it. I tried," I tell Maggie.

"She's alive," she asks.

"She's alive," I say. "So Merle left a note about Katie?" I feel Gracie stiffen beside me at Katie's name and put my arm around her. She hasn't left my side since we were put in here. Maggie looks at me and smiles.

"Yeah, all it said was she's alive. We think they came across the bus looking for Gracie. Merle must have gotten bit. We seen 'Katie alive' scratched on the side of the tank of his motorcycle," she says. Then she puts her hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry about Merle." Then she stands up and joins Glenn.

"We need to have a clear plan for when they come for us. We can't just bum rush the door and then lose each other," Rick says. "We head for the fence."

"We need to make sure Eugene is our number one priority," Abraham says straightening to his full height. Rick looks at him and raises an eyebrow, but before he says anything I butt in.

"You're right," I say. Everybody swings their eyes on me, still sitting on the ground with Gracie leaning into me. "He will be. Because he," I say jabbing my finger in Eugene's direction, "will be carrying Gracie."

I notice a shift. Rick and everyone seem to agree with me by just shifting their body weight closer in my direction. Where as Abraham, Rosita and Eugene seem to have froze.

"With all do respect, I do not believe I have the physical capabilities to carry a child that weighs roughly thirty pounds a long distance. Not to mention that I do not feel at all comfortable with having the responsibility of another's life in my hand. I am not a stupid man. I know if anything happens to her you will undoubtedly blame me and quite possibly try to kill me," Eugene says.

I notice Rosita looking at him differently now.

"If you can't carry a child that is 'roughly thirty pounds' I'm not sure you deserve to live anyway," I say. Abraham takes a step toward me and I stand up. Rick moves to my side.

"Enough," Rick says. "Listen after we get out of here we can separate and go our merry way, but right now we need to at least work together. Now, it makes since Eugene carrying Grace. You," he says pointing to Abraham and Rosita, "will do whatever it takes to protect Eugene, you've made it abundantly clear. And we," he says gesturing to all of us," will do anything to keep Grace alive. I believe this is a win win situation. With Eugene holding her we will then be protecting Eugene too."

I notice Abraham realize what that meant. Until that point Eugene was really nothing but a pipe dream to us, but by making him responsible for Gracie's protection. He would then be cemented into our protection.

"Alright," he agrees. "Eugene you're carrying the pipsqueak. You won't fail because every one of us will be on you like hounds on a coon."

With that settled we go back to the last finishing touches to our weapons, but it doesn't take long for us to hear people outside the train car. I go over to the crack in the door.

"Theres four of those pricks coming our way," I say. Then I pick Gracie up and take her to Eugene. He gets an awkward hold on her. "Keep her safe," I say to him. Then I whisper in Gracie's ear so no one hears. "I love you. Stick with him until I tell you its ok." She nods her head to let me know she understands. She grabs hold of my vest.

"Don't leave," she whispers.

"I'll be right beside you," I say. I smooth her hair and kiss her head. Then I get ready.  
"You all know what to do. Go for their eyes first. Then their throats," Rick says. We all stand in a half circle around the door.

"Put your backs to the wall at either end of the car. Now," somebody yells. Rick turns to us and nods. We nod back. Then the hatch on top opens and they drop tear gas down.

"Move," Abraham yells.

Then I'm being slammed on the ground by some prick. They lead us to a room with a metal troth in it. There's just Bob, Rick, Glenn and me, at least from our car, but theres four other men with us. That's when I remember the cries from a train car when we were being herded. I wonder how many people they have stowed away.

They put us on our knees in front of the feeding troth, our feet and hands tied and our mouths gagged. I look to our right and see them hacking at a body. No, not hacking, butchering. I'm pretty sure my face goes pale when I realize what they're doing.

Suddenly a man swings a bat at one of the men from a different car and hits his head. The other man then grabs his hair pulls it back and slices his throat. They systematically work their way down through the other three men. All I hear is the metal bat meeting bone then the gush of blood coming out.

"Hey guys what were your shot counts," Garrett says walking in.

"Thirty-eight," the guy with the bat says. Then he swings it effectively killing another man like its nothing. They reach Glenn and I know I will do whatever I can to save him, but I'm not sure what I can do.

I see the man with the bat out of the corner of my eye lift the bat over his shoulder.  
"Hey," Garrett says and the guy lowers his bat. "Shot count?"

"Crap man, I'm sorry it was my first roundup," the man that was cutting the throats says.

"After you're done here go back to your point and count your shells. Kaylie won't be getting them till tomorrow," Garrett says.

"Hey! Hey, I want to talk to you," I hear Bob say. Though its muffled by his gag. Garrett ignores him.

"Four from A four from D," he says.

"Hey I want to talk to you for a minute," Bob says again. He just repeats it till Garrett finally pulls his gag out.

"What," he says annoyed.

"Don't do this. We can fix this," Bob says.

"No you can't," Garrett says going to put the gag back in.

"You don't have to do this," Bob yells. "We told you theres a way out of all this. You just have to take a chance. We have a man that knows how to stop this. We just have to get him to Washington. You don't have to do this, man. We can put the world back to how it was," Bob says barely breathing trying not to get cut off.

"We can't go back Bob," Garrett says putting the gag back in.

"We can. You don't have to do this," Bob says, but its pointless Garrett is already moving on.

Garrett squats down in front of Rick and pulls his gag out.

"We saw you go into the woods with a bag and come out without it. I had to pull my spotters back before we could go look for it. What was in it," Garrett says like we are sitting in his freaking living room talking about what we got in the mail today. When Rick didn't answer, he went on. "You hid it, right? In case things went bad. Smart. Still we'll find it, but its to dangerous to go out right now."

Garrett pulls out a knife and yanks Bob forward. Then he leans back towards Rick.  
"What was in it? I'm curious. And it was a pretty big bag," Rick and Garrett stare at each other for a minute. "You really going to make me do this," Garrett says cutting his eyes at Bob.

"Let me take you out there. I'll show you," Rick says. We all know that's not happening.

"Not going to happen. This might," he says moving the knife closer to Bob's eye.  
"Theres guns in it. Ak47. 44 magnum. Automatic weapons. Night scope. Theres a compound bow and a machete with a red handle. That's what I'm gonna use to kill you," Rick says staring straight into Garrett's eyes. I feel calmer all of a sudden. Garrett smiles and lets out a weak laugh. Then he sheaths his knife and puts the gag back in Rick's mouth.

"Thanks," he says patting Rick's shoulders. "You have two hours to put them on the dryers. Then we go back to public face. Now's the time we can get messy, but we need to dial it all in by sundown."

"Got it," his two lackeys say. Then we hear gun shots off in the distance. I wouldn't have thought anything of it except Garrett looked confused by it. He reaches for his walkie.

"Hey Chuck," he says into it. Then another shot and an explosion.

 **Carols pov**  
Its just me Ty and Judith. I just want to get them to Terminus and leave. That's when we come across a man after we were following a herd that was heading towards Terminus after a bunch of gunfire. It looked like he was putting up fireworks, probably to draw the walkers away from Terminus. He was talking on a walkie and we stopped to listen before we approached.

"Alex, didn't get it. I knew that chick with a sword was bad news. It was like a weapon with a weapon," he says laughing. I look at Ty. That could be Michonne, but I didn't want to get my hopes up. I can't hear what the other person says, but he pulls the walkie back up. "Yeah I told Albert I wanted the kids hat after they bleed him out," he doesn't say anything else because I have my gun to his head. I know that was Michonne and Carl.

"Keep your finger off the button and drop it," I say.

"Listen you don't have to do this. We got a place where everybodys welcome," he says.

"Shut up man," Ty says.

"We're friends with the chick with the sword and the kid with the hat," I say. We put him in the little shed after tying his hands. I was going to leave Judith and Ty there while I went to check it out.

"They attacked us. We're just holding them," he says.

"I don't believe you," I say looking at what he had on him.

"We just got the samurai and the kid. That's it. We were just protecting ourselves," he says. I just look at him. "Theres a bunch of us out there, in six directions. We're trying to draw the dead ones away. That's good for you too."

"No it isn't," I say. Then I look at him. "Theres a herd heading to Terminus right now and we don't want to confuse them away. We're going to need their help." I finally have my bag settled.

I kill a walker and smear the blood all over me. Then I follow the other walkers to a fence where I see people killing walkers behind a gate. And I see Rick, Glenn, Bob and Daryl get taken somewhere bound and gagged.

I look through my scope and see a huge propane tank. Then I hear the people yelling when I point the scope in the direction they are looking I see a huge herd. Perfect. Its now or never. I put the firework against the fence and pick my gun back up.

I start shooting at the tank. The third shot punctures a hole in the tank. Then I light the rocket and theres a big explosion. It takes out the fence and walkers start going into the compound.

I follow the walkers inside, looking around to see if I see anyone I know. I hear gunshots on a roof and hide in a doorway. I shoot him and on other man, but my noise caused a couple walkers to come after me so I go inside the door I was hiding in.

When I enter the room its crammed with stuff. Personal belongings. I see a table of watches and recognize Rick's watch, but another piece of jewelry catches my eye and I grab it. I look and see Daryl's crossbow I grab that too. When I see all the stuffed animals, I have to get out.

I keep going when I find a room with a bunch of candles. Theres names everywhere. I keep walking, but then I hear someone yell at me.

"Drop your weapons and turn around. I want to see your face," she says. I slowly turn around and see an older woman with a gun. I pretend that I'm putting my stuff down, but I lift my gun and shoot. I miss and she leaps on me. We start fighting rolling around and knocking over candles.

I come up with my gun pointing at her. She starts talking about how this place used to be real, but people came and took it. I'm not interested. I hear the walkers at the door.

"The men they pulled from the train car, where are they," I say. She looks at me so I shoot her in the leg. "Where are they?!"

"Now shoot it at my head," she says laying on the ground. "You could have been one of us."

"You leave people here and take what they have. Is that what this place is," I say.

"No, not at first, its what it had to be. And we're still here," she says. "You're either the butcher or the cattle." I lower my gun.

"You're not here. And neither am I," I say and pick my stuff up then open the door and let the walkers go at her. I walk out invisible to them. I still hear her scream, but I'm focused on getting my friends out.

After I notice the train door is already open I go and check the others. I find one that has feces in the corner. I quickly leave that one. Theres another but before I open it I hear the moans of walkers inside and I know its a lost cause.

I head into the woods to find everyone else. I see them digging up a bag, but I also notice theres someone that's supposed to be there but isn't. Some guy with a mullet is awkwardly holding Gracie who looks knocked out. Sasha and Daryl are checking her over. My pocket feels heavier all of a sudden. I slowly walk to them when Daryl sees me.

He runs up and hugs me and I feel even more guilty. Then Rick comes up to me.  
"You do that," he asks. I nod and he hugs me too.

"You have to come with me," I say to him, knowing I need to get Daryl far away.

When we reach the shed Ty walks out with Judith. When Rick and Carl see Judith they take off running and Sasha sees Ty. Its a happy reunion, but I look over at Daryl holding Gracie, who seems to be pretty shaken up, but awake now.

I ask Ty what happened, when he tells me that the man put his hands on Judith I start to head inside, but he stops me.

"I took care of it. I had to," he says. I nod my head. Then we head off in the opposite direction of Terminus. I look up at the smoke billowing in the sky and then I turn and don't look back.

We stop to rest and feed Judith. Gracie isn't doing too good. I guess the gunfire caused her to hyperventilate and pass out when Eugene was carrying her. Daryl is talking to her. I stare at them for awhile. Then I close my eyes and turn away.

The next time we stop its for the night and Rick approaches me.  
"I owe you everything," he says.

"You owe Ty. He was at the prison," I say.

"You were there," he says nodding his head in the direction Terminus used to be. I decide to try and change the subject and pull out his watch, but my fingers graze the cold metal chain instead. I quickly locate the watch, ignoring the chain. I pull the watch out and hand it to Rick.

Rick takes it and looks at it.

"It was in one of their store rooms," I say.

"I saw them kill him. That kid," he says then he takes off my watch that I gave him and hands it to me.

"No," I say. He just looks at me and nods.

"I sent you away to this and now I'm asking to join you. Will you have us," he says. I nod my head so I don't cry like an idiot. "Thank you."

Later I'm sitting next to Daryl who has Gracie's sleeping head in his lap. He's absentmindedly running his fingers in her hair. I decide to tell him.

"Daryl, back at Terminus I went into a room," I swallow knowing I have his full attention now. "It had all this stuff in there. Its where I found your crossbow, Ricks watch," again I swallow and pull the chain out of my pocket, "and this. Daryl I'm so sorry. I did check the other cars. They were empty. I'm so so sorry," I say holding the necklace with two wedding rings hanging on it. His eyes are fixed on them.

 **Daryl's pov**  
My arm feels like its dead, but its slowly reaching for the necklace. Hoping its not hers, but I know different. A thousand memories surfacing.

Katie pulling the rings back and forth on the chain.

Katie nervously playing with it.

Katie in nothing but the necklace.

Katie sleeping while I play with the delicate chain.

Katie telling me the story behind the inscription inside. 'Forever' on her mothers ring 'and a day' on her fathers.

My hand finally grasps it and in the moon light I see it.

"My mom always said that was what they said to each other. You know I'll love you forever and my dad would answer and a day. Forever and a day." Her cheeks turning pink saying she knew it was cheesy, but she ate it up.

A noise escapes me. I'm not sure if I can even describe the sound. One of those bodies hanging on the hooks could have been her.

I guess I drew attention to us, because all of a sudden everyone is around us with weapons drawn looking for the threat. Its Sasha who sees the necklace in my hand. Her face pales and her arm drops making her gun point downward. She barely has a hold on it.

"What," Rick says. "What is it?" I can't answer my eyes following the spinning of the rings.

"Its Katie's," Sasha harshly whispers out. I feel everyone's eyes lock on the necklace.

"It was in the room with your watch," Carol whispers. "I checked the cars you guys were the only ones there. One car looked recently vacated, but no one alive was there."

Rick walks up to me raising his hands like I might attack.

"Daryl," he says trying to calm me.

"Those bodies," I push out. Rick stops and I see he hadn't even thought of that. "I should have listened to you. We should have gone back. Made sure they were all dead."

Just like that the spell the necklace had is broken I pull it on over my head and tuck it under my shirt. I go to stand up, but the small weight of Gracie stops me. I can't go back. I can't leave her. Katie would kill me, but I couldn't take her with me either. She stirs and I hear her whimper in her sleep. She starts to thrash and I put my hand on her head again.

"Shhh, you're ok," I say and she gasps and falls back into a deep sleep. I look at Rick and see the panic in his eyes settle.

"Yeah, she needs you," he says and walks away. Everyone disperses and I hear Sasha sniffing like she's trying not to cry. Katie's gone, but Gracie isn't. I have to keep Gracie alive, for Katie.

 **Katie's pov**  
I remember headlights. I had just escaped Terminus. I was stupid. They let me in and I was so happy. I was tired and weak. They were going to feed me, but I dry heaved before it even reached my hands. There was nothing to throw up. I explained that I had just gotten over being sick and that I was pregnant. A woman, Mary, seemed interested in that.

They said I could rest, but I needed to give them something so they knew I wouldn't leave. I thought that was odd. Why would I leave safety? I thought they wanted my knife, but some girl with beady eyes said they would take my necklace.  
Mary seen my hesitation and assured me I would get it back, if I decided to join them after my rest.

I was on edge after that. I waited till night and snuck out of my room. I had my knife gripped tightly in my hand. I found this room with a metal troth in it and when I went further I seen butchered bodies hanging from hooks.

I turned and threw up bile. I had to get out, but when I turned around there was a man standing there. Without thinking and before he could say anything I shoved my knife in his throat. Then I ran.

I reached the fence and started to climb, but was yanked down to the ground. The girl that wanted my necklace was straddling me with her knife to my throat. I tried to buck her off, but she out weighed me.

"I was hoping you wouldn't join us. I really liked that ring," she said in a sweet voice. I tried to buck her off harder, but she barely moved. Then I remembered Daryl had me in a similar situation once when he was trying to teach me how to fight. What was it that he said? If you can't buck them off, then try and use your legs.

I pulled my leg up and tried to put it around her head. It didn't quite go as planned but it made her lose her balance. I head butted her then grabbed my knife and stabbed her in her neck. Blood rushed out of the wound and down my arm. I looked in her eyes and it was like a light went out. I did that. It was terrifying. I pushed away from her.

Then trying not to think too much about the fact that I had killed two people, and not to mention anyone else they killed when they turned, I climbed the fence. I ran as far and as fast as I could.

After a while I started to become clumsy and I tripped over concrete and landed on a road. I hit my head pretty hard, but I swear I seen headlights. Then nothing.

I open my eyes a bit to bright lights that reminds me of a hospital. I close my eyes quickly. Then I hear a woman with a harsh voice.

"What do you mean you wont do it? We are not equipped for a baby. Get rid of it. Tell her she lost it. I don't care. It might be a product of rape anyway. She probably doesn't want it," a woman says on my left. Before I realize what I'm doing my hand is in her hair and my face is an inch away from hers.

"You hurt my baby. I will kill you," I say and I have never felt more confident in my own words than what I do now.

The lady is dressed like a cop and I realize I _am_ in a hospital. The lady easily pulls away from me and I look around my eyes landing on a man in a white coat.  
"We saved you. You should be thanking us. You hit your head pretty hard and would have been nothing, but food for the rotters," she says. "You owe us."

"Welcome to Grady," the man says.

 **Authors note:** I was originally going to end it when Daryl found the necklace, but I didn't want to be mean. Ok now I'm putting a poll up on this story. I have two amazing names picked out. So its going to be if you want Katie to have twins or not. I know its been done so much, but like I said I have two names that I'm in love with. Anyway review please. And thanks for all the favs and follows! (Ps I had to copy and paste again...) and the poll is up.


	20. Chapter 20

I really hope I get this out by the end of the day. I might have lied about last chapter being the last one from Daryl. I closed the poll last night. Only one vote on the poll, but I'm going with it. Anyway you guys are here to read the story so onwards.

 **Chapter 20**  
 **Katie's pov**  
"I'm Doctor Steven Edwards by the way," the man in the white coat says. I glare over at the woman dressed like a cop. "That's Officer Dawn Learner."

"Officers don't exist anymore," I say out of spite. Seeing her dressed in that uniform leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

"They do here. Dawn maybe you should step out," Dr. Edwards says. Dawn glares at him, but leaves. "I'm sorry about her. She's worried about your condition and what that means for us."

I snort.

"Yeah she seemed real worried when she wanted you to kill my baby and then lie to me," I say. The man smiles somewhat sadly at me.

"In all actuality it might very well be gone. You weren't in the best of shape when you arrived here. I would like to do an ultrasound to check," he says already turning the machine on that I failed to notice.

"If you haven't done one already how did you know I was pregnant," I ask skeptically my arms curling around my stomach as if to shield it from the scary machine.

"You kept mumbling about the baby. I came to the conclusion that you must be pregnant when I did a quick exam. I got you on fluids as soon as possible. You were severely dehydrated," he says. "If you could raise your shirt up a bit."

I eye him for a while and decide he can't do any damage with an ultrasound machine. He puts cold jelly on my stomach and begins to run the wand across my abdomen. He turns a switch, but turns the volume down low.

All of a sudden I hear a swooshing type noise. I look at the screen to see if I can see anything.

"Well listen to that. Not only alive, but has a strong heartbeat as well," he says smiling at me, but then he stops and gets closer to the screen moving the wand slightly. I hear what seems to be an echo of the first heartbeat. "Oh, theres two," he says. His face is pale and he looks scared. He quickly shut the machine off.

"What? What's wrong," I ask. "Wait did you say tw-," he clamps his hand over my mouth and I try to fight him off.

"Listen to me. If you want to live and you want those babies to live. You listen to me, ok?"

I quickly nod my head. He pulls away.

"Dawn can't know. She is barely tolerating the fact you have one. She finds out you have twins," he shakes his head. "I won't tell anyone. And I advise you not too. It wouldn't be hard to stage something, slip something in your food, to make you miscarry. Keep this to yourself, got it?"

I nod my head. Then the door comes open and Dawn is standing there.

"Well," she says.

"Strong heartbeat. Healthy. Of course I can't tell how far along she is," Dr. Edwards says staring at me.

"Listen if you want to terminate. You can," Dawn says like its the most generous offer she can give.

"And I told you. You come near me or my baby. I will kill you," I say. Dawn straightens up.

"Fine. You be selfish and bring an innocent baby into this world," she says and turns around to leave, but stops. "What's your name anyway?"

I hesitate. I told those people at Terminus everything and these people already know about the baby or babies I guess. I want to keep some things to myself. Then a name flashes in my head and I decide to go with it.

"Disney. My name is Disney," I say.

"If that's what you want to go by. Then so be it," she says.

I look at Dr. Edwards and he nods his head and gets up.

"Noah will show you around," he says. A skinny black kid comes into my room and I feel calmer when Dawn and Edwards leave. I look at Noah who's dressed in scrubs.

"What the hell is this place," I ask him sitting up and trying to find something to wipe the goop on my belly off. I settle for the bed sheet. He looks back at the door and then quickly closes it.

"You know someone named Beth," he says. I look shocked and stand up.

"Yeah I thought so. She's not good at controlling her face. Look it will be better if you act like you don't know her. I already warned Beth. This place its a prison," he says and I can't help the tilt to my lips at that. Noah points at my face. "See that. Beth made the same face when I said that. Beth and I we're going to try and get out. The only reason I'm telling you is because I know Beth won't leave you," he says. "Come on. Its going to start looking bad if we stay in here much longer."

I follow him out and he starts giving me a tour. I try to remember where everything is, map out the place in my brain so I can escape later.

Noah and I walk by Dr. Edwards and Beth. Beth and I make eye contact. I soak her in. If she's alive who else?

Its not till the next day that Beth and I are able to meet up. I was walking by a closet when I get yanked in. I immediately start to fight.

"Shh, its just me," Beth says. I turn around and hug her and she hugs me back.

"Beth, oh my god," I choke down my emotion. "I was beginning to think I was the only one. Are you here with anybody? Did you get out with anybody," I say all in one breath. She chuckles but it sounds on the brink of a sob.

"Still the same Katie. No I'm not here with anybody," she pauses and looks at me. "I got out with Daryl, but we got separated and I woke up here. What about you?"

"Is he still alive," I gasp out. She nods. "I got out with Merle, but he got bit. Haven't seen anyone else. I'm sorry."

"Its ok. Why'd you tell them you were Disney? And is it true," she says glancing at my stomach.

"Yes I'm pregnant. And I don't know. Its stupid now. My way of sticking it to Dawn. So she doesn't know everything. And it made me think of him. You know Rapunzel," I trail off and try to keep the tears back. Beth smiles.

"Hes alive Kate," she says. I look at her tears running down my face.

"But not Gracie. She wasn't with me and she wasn't with Daryl and you," I say. Beth shakes her head in disbelief.

"No I'm sure she's alive. With someone. Maybe she's even with Maggie and Glenn. We'll find them Katie. All of them," she says. The door jerks open and we spring apart thinking we got caught, but its just Noah.

"Oh my gosh Noah what happened to you," I ask him. He looks like he went around with a heavyweight boxer. Beth looks guilty.

"I'm so sorry," she says.

"Its nothing. Look," he flicks at his eyebrow. "Painkillers."

I look between the two of them thinking there might be something there. Noah talks about getting the key to the elevator shaft and Beth agrees.  
We're getting out. Today.

 **Sasha's pov**  
We watch as the people from Terminus sneak into the church and we follow. We still don't know what happened to Daryl and Carol, but Bob said they weren't with him when he was taken by the survivors of Terminus. I do know that Daryl would not voluntarily leave Gracie. Even though they told Bob that they drove off. I don't believe it. I am going to kill all of them for what they did to Bob.

"Well I guess you know we're here. And we know you're here," Garrett says. "We're armed and so there really is no point in hiding anymore." Hes slowly inching his way down the isle. "We've been watching you. We know who's here. Theres Bob, unless you've put him out of his misery already, and Eugene, Rosita, Martins good friend Ty, Carl, Gracie and Judith. Rick and the rest walked out, with a lot of your guns. Listen we don't know where you all are, but this isn't a big place. Would you like to stop this now before things get more painful than they need to be," he says. We watch as they try the two doors in the back of the church, but both of them are locked.

"Listen you are behind one of these two doors and we have more than enough fire power to take down both. Can't imagine that's what you all want. How bout the priest? Father, you help us out with something we'll let you walk away from this. Just open up the door you can take Gracie and Judith. What do you say."

I swear to God if Gabriel opens that door my first bullet will be in his head. I look at Rick and see he is thinking the same thing. All of a sudden Judith starts crying and Garrett heads to the opposite side he was by.

"I don't know maybe we'll keep the kid. I'm starting to like this girl," Garrett says. We stay just waiting for the right moment. They cant see us creeping in the back of the church.

"Your last chance right now to tell us your coming out," Garrett says.

"Are we done," one of the guys says.

"Light the hinges," Garrett says. That's our cue. Abraham and I take out the two standing by the door.

"Put your guns on the floor," Rick says.

"Rick we'll fire right into that office. So you lower-ahh," Rick shoots at Garrett's hand taking off two fingers.

"Put your guns on the floor and kneel," Rick says. They all comply except one with a swollen eye.

"Martin theres no choice here," Garrett says.

"Yeah there is," Martin says in a cocky voice.

"You want a bet," Abraham says aiming the gun directly at his head. Martin drops his gun and gets on his knees. Rick stands over Garrett.

"No point in begging right," Garrett says.

"No," Rick says.

"But you could have shot us when you came in the door. There has to be a reason," Garrett says.

"We didn't want to waste the bullets," Rick tells him.

"Wait, wait. That girl. The pregnant one with the necklace. The necklace that was given to Daryl. Katie. I can help you find her," Garrett says. Rick and I look at each other.

"What about her. You killed her," Rick says.

"No. No we didn't. We let her lay down she was weak. Mother didn't want to kill her because of the baby. We took her necklace as collateral, but I guess she figured out on her own. We woke up to screaming she killed two of our people they killed about six before we got it under control. We only found out it was her when we couldn't find her," Garrett begs. We look at each other each knowing that even if this is true he can't help us.

"I made a promise," Rick says and slams the machete into Garrett's head over and over. I repeatedly stab some guy I don't even know the name of. I just know that they took Bob's leg and killed so many others. So they deserved it.

Father Gabriel comes out and looks at the carnage.

"This is the Lords house," he says.

"No. Its just four walls and a roof," Maggie says.

I look at Rick and go over to him.

"You think he was lying," I say.

"No. Katie could still be out there or not, but do we tell Daryl? Do we tell him everything he said," Rick asks, but I don't think he's really asking me.

We are all saying goodbye to Bob. I hate him. I hate that he made me laugh. I hate that he made me feel hopeful. I hate that he made me love him. As I'm sitting beside him with a knife in my hand crying, Ty comes in.

"Give it here. I'll do it," he says. I put up a half attempt at fighting, but I let him take it and I walk out.

 **Daryl's pov**  
I walk quietly to the church, but not quietly enough. Michonne is walking towards me and unless I want to be sliced open I better step into the light. When I do she smiles and then frowns.

"Where's Carol," she says.

"C'mon out," I yell at Noah. Michonne looks at me confused when she sees the scrawny kid.

"He knows how to get Beth and Carol," I say.

"And Disney," Noah says firmly. "I'm not leaving her there." I wave my hand and nod my head.

"How's Gracie," I ask. Michonne looks between us.

"Come on we need to talk to Rick and she's fine just keeps asking for you," Michonne says.

When we walk into the church, Rick immediately walks to me. He puts his hand on the back of my neck.

"You good," he says. I nod and look around.

"What the hell happened here," I say looking at all the blood. Rick fills me in on everything I missed.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here, but I seen a car. The same kind that took Beth. Me and Carol followed it," I say. Rick looks at me then at Noah. "Tell him everything you told me." Noah steps forward.

"The place I was at is a hospital called Grady," he says.

"Grady Memorial," Rick asks.

"Yeah, its run by a woman named Dawn, but just barely. Its like a prison camp they 'rescue you'," he says using his finger to make air quotes. "So then you owe them. Only its impossible to pay it off. Everytime you eat you owe more. You get sick you owe more. You breathe in the nice clean oxygen you owe more. The guys they..they like to keep themselves busy with the girls there. The worst one, Groden, Beth killed before we got out. We would have made it, but Beth turned around to help me and in turn that made Disney turn around. They got caught, but I kept going. I was planning on getting them out. That's when I ran into Daryl and Carol. They have her now," Noah says.

"Who's Disney? Why would she turn around and help Beth? Why didn't she keep going like you," Rick asks.

"Disney is a girl who hasn't been there long maybe three days. Her and Beth know each other somehow. They never said anything to me. All I know is when they brought Disney in, Beth couldn't take her eyes off her," Noah says.

"Possibly someone from the prison," I mutter. I hear a loud squeal and before anyone can make a move to raise their weapons. Gracie comes barreling in from the back. I pick her up when she reaches me.

"D-role where'd you go," she says into my neck. Her arms and legs locked around me.

"I had to go do something, but I came back. Told you I would," I say rubbing her back.

"Look I'm not helping you guys get Beth. If you won't help get Disney," Noah says bravely. Rick takes a step and Noah backs down a bit. "Look Dawn hates her. I mean she regrets ever bringing her in there. Now that she already tried to escape and would have been successful had it not been for me, I don't know what's going to happen," Noah says.

"Why does this Dawn hate her so much," Rick asks.

"She bit off more than she could chew. She thought she was getting some weak girl, but Disney threatened her the minute she woke up. Not to mention," Noah sucks in a breath. "Promise you'll help her?"

Rick and I make eye contact Gracie actually staying quiet in my arms. Truth be told we would have helped her no matter what, but Noah is making us uneasy.

"Yeah, we'll help her. If we can," Rick says.

"Disney is pregnant. I know its difficult, but you guys already have a baby and a kid," Noah says quickly.

"Exactly. We already have a baby and a kid," I say, but when I look at Rick I notice him and Sasha looking at each other. And everyone is trying hard not to look at me.

"Noah, its very important that you tell me exactly what Disney looks like," Rick says stepping close to Noah and looking him in his eye.

"Uh average height. Blue eyes. Brown hair," Noah sprouts off.

"Something specific," Rick says. Noah looks down I can tell he's nervous. Anyone sane would be. Rick covered in blood staring you down with that cold look.

"Uh her hair," Noah says.

"What about her hair," Rick says.

"Its super long. She keeps it in a braid, but its past the middle of her back," he says. Rick steps back I look at him wondering what he's getting at.

"No," I say harshly. "She's gone."

"Garrett told us different. Daryl I don't want to get your hopes up, but this could be her," Rick says. "This could be Katie."

"Katie," Noah asks. "Beth yelled that name when she came back to help me. I thought she said help me, but hearing that name. I know that's not what she said." I set Gracie down. She went still when we said Katie. I stood there for a minute before I grabbed Noah by his jacket and pushed him up against a wall. Rick and Michonne tried to calm me down.

"I swear to you if you are lying to us so we help your friend. I will kill you," I tell him.

"I'm not I swear! I swear," he says. Rick pulls me away from him and then the slight buzzing that was in my head dies.

"Pregnant," I say looking at Rick. Rick smiles

"Don't look at me that's all you brother," he says. I look at Sasha.

"She didn't say anything to me, but Herschel was uncharacteristically mad when she was put in cell block A," she says. I stand dazed. Katie pregnant. It doesn't compute in my head.

"Garrett said the same thing last night. She got out Daryl. She killed two of their people, because of what you taught her," Rick says. "We're going to get her back. And Beth and Carol."

I nod my head.

"Okay. Okay and if I find out those pieces of shit hurt her I'm gonna kill them," I say. Rick puts his hand on my shoulder and squeezes.

"We all will," Rick says.

We are tearing apart the church, making it as safe as we can. I watch Sasha hack at a bench with an axe.

"Hey she doing ok," I ask Ty, since finding out that Katie could be alive my anger hasn't left, but its curbed.

"No," Ty says. I look back at Sasha. I know what she's feeling. I was feeling the same thing not a day ago. I walk by not saying anything knowing there aren't any words that can be said.

I start putting the organ pipes down in the ground. Gabriel standing there watching.  
"You going to take the cross too," he says. I look at him and then go back to work.

"If it helps," I say.

I kneel down by Gracie who's sitting on the steps looking sadly at me.

"Hey," I say and tap her chin. She just sticks her lip out further. "Ah, Grace don't do this to me."

She crosses her arms tighter around her. I sit down beside her. I run my hand through my hair.

"Look I have to go. I have to try and help some people, but I'll come back. I always do, don't I," I say nudging her shoulder with my elbow. Her bottom lip starts trembling and she suddenly unlocks her arms.

"But not for long long time. I miss you lots and lots," she says flailing her arms in away they Katie used to when she was upset. Then she puts her hands on either side of my face. Her eyes going wide looking in mine. "Lots and lots," she says seriously. Even with how serious this situation is she still makes me smile.

"I miss you lots too, but I have to go," I say picking her up and putting on my lap. She sighs.

"Mommas not back yet," she mutters. I don't want to get her hopes up and I don't want to lie to her.

"I'm going to try and get your momma back," I tell her. " But even if I don't I'll always come back."

"Promise," she says sticking her hand out and I know I'm supposed to extract her pinkie and curl mine around it. I remember Sasha and Katie trying to teach it to her one day.

I look around and see Rick standing in the doorway with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. He moves his hand in a continue motion. If I didn't have Gracie on my lap I would have flipped him off. I glance back at Gracie who is scolding me so I quickly grab her pinkie and shake it. She smiles the first honest smile I've seen since the prison.

"Okay," she jumps off my lap and runs inside. Ricks just standing there squinting at the sun trying not to smile.

"Not a word," I say. Ricks mouth tilts up on the side.

"Not a word," he says. Then he sticks his pinkie out. "Promise."

I knock his hand away and he laughs. We are all in better spirits thinking we are getting Beth and Katie back. Except Sasha and I can't blame her.

We're sitting in a warehouse. Ricks drawing up plans on how to get in without being seen or heard.

Ty is trying to find a peaceful way.

"Look I don't care how we do it. All I know is I'm killing Dawn. She doesn't get to live after threatening Katie," I say.

We decide to take three of the officers and do a trade. One for Carol, one for Beth and one for Katie. Damn, I'm already sure that it is Katie, but what if its not? What will happen if its not her? I can't go back. I can't.

Rick comes back he had to chase down one of the officers that got away. He shakes his head.

"Lambson was a good cop. Its a shame he was killed by rotters. We seen it go down," the girl cop, Shepard, says.

"It doesn't matter its an uneven trade now," I say rubbing my face.

"It might still work," Noah says. "Like I said she doesn't like Dis- I mean Katie. She might just give her away."

We get Dawn on a walkie and tell her our conditions. The two cops we met on the parking garage lead us inside of the hospital. My heart starts beating faster. Almost like it knows I'm getting closer.

We reach a hallway with four cops and a doctor. Carol is in a wheelchair and Beth is standing behind it. I don't see Katie. We all holster our weapons.

"They haven't been harmed," Rick says.

"Where's Lambson," a woman I assume is Dawn asks.

"Rotters got him. We saw it happen," Shepard says.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that he was one of the good guys," she says, but she seems relieved.

"Where's Katie," I ask. Beth looks surprised I know she's hear.

"Katie," Dawn asks.

"He means Disney," Noah says.

"I'm sorry. She was killed trying to leave again got swarmed by rotters," Dawn says. Beth shakes her head. And I know she's lying. I don't know why she's lying, but she is. I start picturing Katie tied up somewhere all alone.

I get tunnel vision. I lift my gun and shoot before I can think. Dawn falls. All of the cops go to raise their gums, but Shepard stops them.

"Its done. Just go," she says. One of the wards an old man who came out of the rooms from the gunfire. Steps forward.

"Disney is still alive. I helped Lambson get her out," he says. I look at him.

"You can stay here we're surviving. Its better than out there. We can help you find her," Shepard says.

"No, its not. And we're taking anyone back there that wants to come. If you want to join us step forward," Rick says.

"You," I say pointing to the old man. "Tell me what you know now."

No one steps forward to go with us. Even the old man. He didn't know where Lambson was taking her, but he knew she was alive. We head outside with Carol, Beth and Noah who was able to get his bag. I see a fire truck and Maggie is smiling wide. Beth runs to her and hugs her.

"Look Katie wouldn't have gone far," Beth says after she pulls away from Maggie. I see one of the cop cars and hop in. I hot wire it and drive off.

"Daryl," Rick yells out. I grab the loud speak.

"Katie. Katie if you hear me, go to the parking lot across from the hospital. Ok," I say. I'm constantly looking for movement. I slam on my breaks. There in a second story window of an old apartment complex. I seen a blur of blue and brown.

I hop out of the car with my crossbow. I head inside and go to the door marked stairs I start running. My footsteps echoing in the closed in stairwell. Then I hear a door slam from above and footsteps.

"Katie," I yell. I look up and see her face looking down on me. And I stop what the fuck. I start running again.

"Daryl," I hear her say.

"Stay there I'm coming to you," I say.

I run up the next flight of stairs and there she is. Her right eye is swollen shut and her lip is busted, but she's alive. I grab her and just hold her. My hands sliding in her hair. Her arms are wrapped around me. I pull her in as close as I can. Breathing in her smell. Letting her soak into me. I feel something settle. Something I didn't even know was right on the brink of spilling over until I held her.

 **Katie's pov**  
Daryl is here and he's real. I clutch his vest and pull him closer. I try not to cry, but I know I am. The salt from my tears stinging my cut cheek. I don't care though I just try to get closer to him.

"What happened? Who did this," he asks pulling my head back where he can see my face better.

"Dawn. I pissed her off. Lambson found me and had Dr. Edwards look me over. Then he took me and hid me here," I say. I can only really see out of my right eye, but I don't look away from him. My hands coming up on their own and running my fingers against his face.

"I shouldn't have killed her so quick," he says.

"Dawn's dead," I ask surprised, but oddly ok with the fact Daryl killed her. He nods and gently kisses the injured side of my face. It could be my imagination, but it starts to feel better. That makes me think of Gracie and kissing her owies away.

"Daryl," I say. I want to ask him about everyone, but mostly Gracie. I need to know what happened to her. Before I can say more the door opens from downstairs.

"Daryl, you up there," I hear Rick quietly yell. "I'm going up," he says to somebody behind him.

"I'm good," Daryl calls down to him not taking his eyes off me. There's a pause.

"You sure," he says.

"Yeah. Yeah, we're good," he says. There's a longer pause.

"Katie with you," Rick whispers, but the sound still echoes up.

I look at him and he smiles then kisses me trying not to hurt my busted lip, but I don't care I pull him closer. The pain a reminder that I'm alive and with him. He pulls away.

"We'll be down in a minute," he calls down to Rick. "You got anything up here you need," he asks me.

"Uh Daryl, we don't really have time for that," Rick says and edge of embarrassment and humor in his voice. Daryl frowns and leans over the rail.

"If that were the case it would be longer than a minute. You dumbass," he yells down.

"Katie you have anything we need to get," I shake my head no.

"I only have my knife. Lambson gave it back to me when he hid me here," I say.

"Daryl, do you know anything about Gracie," I ask. I'm scared to know, but I need to know. Daryl smiles and grabs my hand and starts to lead me downstairs. I see Rick and he gives me a sweet smile kissing my forehead.

"Welcome back Katie," he says. We follow him out and I see a big guy with red hair looking like he's standing guard by the door. Then I see Michonne and Carl with Judith and there sitting on the floor of a fire engine her feet dangling is my Gracie. I pull away and run to her.

"Gracie," I yell making the red head jump that was standing near the door. Gracie snaps her head up, but then looks confused. I know she must not recognize me with my face.

"Gracie," I say again and she seems to figure it out. Her little body hurling towards me.

"Momma," she says jumping in my arms wrapping her arms and legs around me. My butt hits the ground and I hold her. She pulls back and looks at my face. "Momma got an owie," she says pointing at my face. I nod my head, tears coming down my face. She wipes them away and then kisses my eye. "There. All bedder," she says.

I look up and see everyone smiling. Sasha has a sad smile and I'll have to figure that out soon enough, but for the moment I feel happy. My eyes meet Daryl's and I smile ignoring the smarting in my cheek.  
"Yeah baby its all better," I say.

Authors note: Idk if I'm happy with this reunion I had a whole other thing happening. Like Beth and Katie getting out together and Aaron finding them first. And Katie trying to beg Deanna to let her go and look, but the more I started writing the more I realized I couldn't do that to Daryl. So I might write up that chapter and post it separately if anyone is interested in the original reunion I had in mind. Oh yeah I kept Beth alive. Can't promise it will stay that way, but I didn't like how she died in the show. Like she didn't even do what she intended to do I was sad for her. Oh and the joking around my seem out of character, but I feel with them getting good news they felt a little lighter. Daryl especially. So I'm sorry if that's way out of character for Rick at the moment.~~ (oh the reunion is so much better if you play the one by kodaline over it)


	21. Chapter 21

Thank you for the reviews! I'm glad you guys liked the reunion. Consequently, I have thought of some great scenes with Katie already back with the group. I may still post the other reunion, I literally had in my head since I started writing this story, but it won't be for a bit. Anyway onwards and upwards. And hey haven't said it in awhile but I still don't own walking dead. You know in case you were wondering.

 **Chapter 21**  
 **Katie's pov**  
"I promised him. I'd go with him. He needs to know if his family is still ok. You didn't rest till all of us were together," Beth says to Rick. Rick looks at her and gives her a half smile.

"Calm down. We'll check it out. Noah where is it," Rick turns to him and Noah steps forward.

"Richmond. Virginia," he says. Daryl lets out a low whistle. "I know its far, but it has walls or had. It was secure."

Rick gathers everyone around to get their thoughts. Its night and we are all gathered by the cars we found. Daryl is leaning on the hood of one and I'm standing by him. Gracie is asleep in the back of an SUV we found. We're all in a circle of sorts.

"If it was any of us, we'd already be gone. Its a long way and we don't know if its still standing, but I think we owe it to not only Noah but ourselves to see. If its still there its secure, it has walls. I think it's best only to take a few people to check it out. Carol and Katie aren't in a state to run if we have to," Rick says.

"If Katie's staying I'ma stay too," Daryl says. I lean into him and he puts is hand on the hood of the car directly behind me. His fingers twisting in the shirt we found in a suit case for me. I wanted to get out of those blue scrubs as soon as possible. Rick nods.

"That's fine. I figured as much," Rick looks at Glenn. Of course if he can't have his right hand man he needs his left. Glenn nods.

"I'll stay here so I can be here if Carol or Katie need something," Maggie says. She looks at Glenn and he smiles at her. "Beth you should stay too. I want to talk to ya."

"I promised Noah I'd go," Beth says unsure.

"Hey you're getting me there. That's as good as going. If my brothers were here I would stay with them," Noah says. Beth looks at him.

"Alright, I'll stay, but just this once. I don't want to be like I was at the prison. I want to help on runs too," she says confidently. Maggie looks worried as does Glenn. I'm proud of her though and I catch Daryl hiding a smirk.

Rick doesn't trust Abraham in his mental state. After losing Washington he's been acting careless, at least that's what Maggie said. Eugene is useless and Rosita won't go without Abraham. Father Gabriel can't be trusted either. He almost got Michonne, Carl and Judith killed. Sasha is in no state after losing Bob. Tara decides to stay back. So that leaves Ty, Noah, Rick, Glenn and Michonne to go.

They plan on leaving in the morning. Everyone goes to bed to rest up. Daryl and I are sleeping in an SUV. We folded the seats down and that's where Gracie was asleep.  
We crawl in through the back hatch Daryl shuts us in. I lay down and wait for Daryl to take his crossbow off his back. He lays down putting his crossbow in arms reach. We both lay there, still, for a moment, not touching and barely breathing.

"You hate me for killing Dawn in cold blood," he grunts. I turn my head to look at him.  
"No. You hate me for killing those two people in Terminus," I whisper.

"No. I only hate I wasn't there to see you put the bastards in their place," he says. I chuckle or try to, but I start crying instead.

"Shhh, come here," he says pulling me in.

"I killed them. I know they would have killed me, but I'm the one who did that. I don't even know if I would pass Rick's questions anymore," I say.

"Shhh," Daryl says running his hand down my back. "Its ok. It was you or them. They weren't good people. Don't waste another second on them."

"Merle," I sob out. "Daryl I'm sorry. He got bit saving me at the prison. I tried to run back to find Gracie. I'm so sorry."

I can't stop. It's like I'm trying to find reasons to be upset. I bury my face in Daryl's chest so I won't wake Gracie up. He holds me. One hand behind my head his arms wrapped around me. I slowly calm down. Taking in lungful's of air.

When I calm down enough Daryl pulls away so he can look at me. The moonlight shining through the windows giving us just enough light to see each other.

"Maggie told me about Merle. They found him. He was an asshole and liked to make everyone's life miserable, but when it came down to it he always looked out for me. I may sound like an asshole, but if he was here I would hate him, cause it would mean he let you die. The only thing my brother did that made me proud of him, made me know he cared about me, got him killed. Merle went down the way he wanted. No one can hate him now and we all owe him. He would've wanted to go leaving me in his debt. I'm sure the sonva bitch is laughing now," Daryl says.

"I'm sorry I didn't give him a chance and I made it difficult for you to spend time with him," I say. He shakes his head.

"Like I said Merle liked to make everything miserable. Not your fault," he says kissing the top of my head. I release a big sigh. I feel Daryl smile slightly. "You were really worried?"

"You were really worried about me caring about Dawn," I asked. He grunts.

"That was different. She wasn't going to kill me. She pissed me off," he growls out.

"She also did this to my face and threatened to kill our baby," I say and suck in real quick. I hadn't told him I was pregnant yet.

"I know. Noah told us when he was trying to convince us to rescue 'Disney'. How come you didn't tell me," he says.

"I was scared and stupid. I found out the day you came back from the big spot run. The one with Zack," I say Daryl nods his head.

"When I came back Merle said you nearly fainted," he says.

"Yes. It didn't seem like an appropriate time to tell you. Then the flu happened," I say. He makes a noise in the back of his throat.

"You volunteering to go is even worse now. I was so pissed at you I wanted to strangle you. You could have easily lost the baby. Just be honest with me from now on. I have had too many close calls with you. Lets not make it more difficult on ourselves by not being truthful," he says in a tight voice. I kiss his throat and feel his pulse. He sighs and curls his arms tighter around me. "I can't lose you," he whispers harshly in my ear.

"You won't," I say trying to push my body closer to him.

"We lost Lori with Judith," he says the words like they are painful. I put my hand on the back of his neck.

"I'm not going to worry about that. There no point in stressing about things so far in advance," I say. He nods and kisses my neck. I bit my lip. "I have something to tell you, but I don't want to freak you out."

"Just say it," he says pulling away from my neck to look at me. I pause and then chicken out.

"You smell really bad," I say and smile. He grunts.

"Yeah, well deal with it. Cause I ain't sleeping outside," he says smiling. He rolls to his back pulling me on top of him. "Go to sleep. Maybe me smell will help knock you out."

"I didn't say I minded," I say. I put my hand over his heart a solid steady thump under my hand. The words are right at the tip of my tongue, but they get stuck. I feel the blood rush to my ears. 'Just be honest with me from now on.' I feel his breathing slowing down.

"Daryl," I whisper.

"Hmm," he says.

"I'm pregnant," I say.

"Yeah. We covered that. Go to sleep," he says.

"Daryl, I'm pregnant with twins," I blurt out. I feel him stiffen for a brief second and then he's shaking. I pull away from him and look down. I see he's silently laughing.

"Why are you laughing," I say smiling for reasons I don't know.

"Delirious, maybe. It's just something Merle used to say go big or go home. I can't help but think what he would say," he says rubbing his hand over his face becoming serious all of a sudden. "So, two huh."

"Merle, told me to name the baby after him. I told him if it was a girl he was out of luck," I say. Daryl snaps his head to look at me.

"He knew," he rasps out. I nod.

"He listened by Hershel's door. He also said that you would be a good dad. It would just take some convincing and asked me not to give up on you," I whisper.

"He said I would be a good dad," he sounds shocked.

"He was an asshole, but he loved you," I say. He nods his head and I lay back down on his chest, but I feel something dig in my cheek. I lean up again and see a chain. I pull it up and gasp when I see my parents rings. "How?"

"Carol found it. It was in storage room in Terminus. I thought," he clears his throat, "we all thought." He doesn't finish the sentence, but he doesn't need to. I nod.  
He pulls it off his neck and holds it above us.

"Here you can have it back," he says. I wrap my hand around the rings. They feel warm from being so close to his skin. I steady the ring closely and then I decide.

"The thing is I've gotten used to not having them," I say. I unlatch the chain and pull the rings off. "Now I know traditionally the man asks, but this world isn't traditional," I pull his left hand up and slide my dad's ring on his finger. It's a little snug, but not a bad fit. "So, Dixon, you want to be married to me?"

Daryl stares at me awhile then without breaking eye contact he takes my mothers rings and grabs my hand. He looks down and slips the rings on my finger.

"You sure about this Thomas," he says imitating me calling him by his last name.

"I think you mean Dixon," I say. He smiles and I smile back.

"Go to sleep," he says smiling. I tuck my head under his chin and fall into a peaceful sleep.

Authors note: Ok I'm stopping this chapter there. My phone is starting to act up and its a good stopping point, but I'll try to get on more out tomorrow. No promises though. Hope you enjoy it. I'm kinda freaking out though because in the show Beth dying was a huge turning point for a lot of characters. I'm hoping I still do it justice. Thank you everyone again for the reviews! I can't thank you enough oh and its now in a community! Sorry its so short. Next chapter will be longer.


	22. Chapter 22

Just uploaded the last chapter. I'm starting on this one now lets see if I can get it posted by tomorrow. I meant to ask this in the last authors note, but I forgot. Anyway, another character is coming along in my head. She's rude, tough and flawed. Emotionally crippled and could honestly not care less about others in the beginning. It would be an oc\oc story. And it would be awhile before they meet. Anyway, if you're interested let me know and I won't feel so guilty about starting a new story.

 **Chapter 22**

 **Katie's pov**

"Carol we made it," Rick says though the walkie. "It's gone."

Carol looks down at the walkie, but doesn't say anything back to Rick.

"Well that's that," Daryl mutters unsurprised.

"You didn't think it was still there," I ask.

"I hoped so, but no. You did," he asks raising an eyebrow. I shrug.

"I don't know. I guess I assumed," I say.

"Poor Noah," Beth says from my right causing me to jump.

"Jesus! Warn someone before you sneak up on them," I say turning my head so I can see her with my good eye.

"I've been standing here for a good five minutes," she says a confused voice.

"Well, make more noise or something. How long will it take for my eye to heal," I ask Maggie ignoring Daryl's muttered 'fucking Dawn' under his breath. I can open it about halfway, but my peripheral vision is crap. Maggie grimaces.

"It could be as long as two weeks till the bruising goes down," she says apologetically.

"Great," I mutter. I turn to see Gracie is still drawing in the dirt with a stick a couple feet away. Daryl curses Dawn again.

"What do we do now," Tara says.

"Why can't we stay here," Beth says. "We can fix the doors on the church."

"There's nothing around here. Our runs would be days possibly weeks long," Daryl says. "And its already been easily overrun," Daryl looks at me and glances down at my stomach. "It ain't worth it."

I look at Beth and offer a sympathetic smile. Then over the radio Rick comes back on.

"Ty's been bit! Get Sasha and the kids away! They don't need to see this," he shouts. We all look over to see Sasha standing right next to Carol.

"Is he ok," she says loudly. "Is he going to make it?!" Carol starts shaking her head in an unsure way. I go over and put my hand on her shoulder. She shakes it off angrily and takes a step away. Then she turns around and storms off to where Bob is buried.

"Should I go to her," I ask Daryl shocked. He shakes his head.

"Nah. In the state she's in, she's liable to say something that she'll regret," he says lowly looking in the direction where Sasha stormed off.

We all stay silent for a long time. Then over the radio we hear Rick.

"He didn't make it," Rick says in a somber voice. "We tried." I choke on a sob and Daryl grabs me and pulls me into his arms.

"Momma what's the matter," Gracie says running to me. I suck in a breath and wipe my face. Daryl reluctantly lets me pull away.

I squat down and grab her hands. Her eyes are wide and scared. I smile at her and study her hands. They're filthy as is her face. I start rubbing a spot on her cheek.

"Nothings wrong baby. I'm just a little sad at the moment," I say. "Hey, why don't you and Daryl go down to the creek and wipe up." I look up at Daryl and he nods.

"Come on, princess. Lets go clean up," he says scooping her up.

"Momma don't leave, ok," she says seriously staring a hole through me.

"I won't," I say trying to hold in the tears.

"Stay here," she says using her hand as if patting the air to help indicate where here is.

"I promise," I say. She studies me for a minute then nods accepting the promise.

When she's far enough away, I turn to the rest of the group.

"Should I tell her or someone else? Or do we wait," I say trying to keep my voice from cracking.

"We need to tell her," Carol says.

"I think Katie should. It would be better coming from her friend," Beth says. Everyone agrees.

I head down to Bob's grave and see her sitting with her arms on her legs facing the cross marking his grave. Her back was towards me.

"You don't even have to tell me," she says bringing her head up.

"I'm so sorry Sasha," I says stepping closer.

"Stop," she says sharply, turning her head sideways to look at me. "I don't to here all the apologies and see all the looks of pity. They're gone and that's that."

I ignore her and sit on the other side of Bob's grave facing the opposite way of her.

"I'm still sorry. I'm sorry I never got to know Bob and I'll never get to tell him thank you for helping to keep Gracie alive. I'm sorry for you having to take on the responsibility of her when I wasn't there. I'm sorry I was ever friendly to Kenny. I'm sorry he came back to the prison solely for me. And I'm sorry about Ty," I say.

"Ok. Now you've said your peace you can go. I want to be alone," she says. She hasn't really looked at me once.

"Sasha, I don't think you should be by yourself right now," I say a little hesitantly.

"I don't care what you think, right now," she yells at me. Finally looking at me, her eyes wide and nostrils flared. "I want to be alone with my dead boyfriend that's about to be joined by my dead brother. Go back to your, I assume with the rings on both of your fingers, husband and kid. I just want to be alone!"

"Okay. I'm sorry. Alright, but I'm going to check on you," I say with tears in my eyes. "And Sasha just cause I have Daryl and Gracie doesn't mean I haven't lost anyone before."

I leave to head back to the rest of the group. I try to wipe my face so Gracie won't see my tears. I manage to get my emotions in check before I reach everybody. They all raise their heads when I show up. Their faces silently asking what happened.

"She knew. She's understandably upset. I think we should check on her, but she wants to be left alone," I say only sniffing once.

"I'll go watch her," Tara says. "I know what it's like losing a sibling and a partner at the same time."

I nod my head remembering to asks her about it later. Before she gets too far I call out to her. Tara turns around looking expectantly a me.

"She wants to be left alone and she's a good shot," I tell her. She raises her eyebrows and nods her head.

"Good to know," she says. Then she turns and heads to Sasha. I walk a little ways from the group and sit down under a tree. I lean my head back and close my eyes. Images of Ty began to filter into my mind. Ty smiling good naturedly as Sasha teased him. Then I see Herschel out in the field tending to his crops and always having some wise thing to say.

The tears won't stop. I try to stop them, but they keep falling. I feel a rough hand on my cheek wiping them away. I open my eyes and meet Daryl's blue ones. He smiles sadly at me.

"Is this my fault," I whisper. Daryl pulls his head back surprised.

"Why would you think it's your fault," he says confused.

"Because of Kenny. If I wasn't so nice to him, or if I made it clear I wasn't interested, or if I never talked to him, maybe none of this would have happened. Maybe Merle, Hershel, Bob and Ty would all still be alive," I say not even realizing I had subconsciously been feeling guilty for everything. Daryl started shaking his head no as soon as I said Kenny's name.

"No. It's no ones fault, but Kennys. This, this is all on him. And don't go blaming yourself for it. It will just piss me off," he says. I look at him and give him a watery smile. I don't believe him, but he doesn't need to know that. He looks down and curses. Then he looks back up at me. " If it's your fault then it's mine too." I go to object, but he cuts me off. "Maybe if I was a little more clear with not just him, but you. Maybe if I would have let Carl take the shot he had on him or maybe if I would have looked for him after that run. There's a lot of ifs and maybes, but if you want to say it's your fault, then you're saying it's mine too. And I'm not taking the blame for some string bean dipshit that acted like a selfish prick who didn't get the toy he wanted," Daryl nearly spits out.

I stare at him processing what he had said. I know he's right. I can't control anyone's actions except my own. The only deaths I'm guilty of are the ones done by my own hands. I killed that guy and girl at Terminus. And that's it. It doesn't make it easier to deal with, but it makes it easier to except. Sasha was right about one thing, they're gone. They aren't coming back and I know that none of them would want anyone to sit around and feel guilty.

"Okay," I say nodding my head. I place my hand on his, which is still resting on my cheek. "Okay," I say again with more confidence. I glance around, "Where's Gracie?"

"When I seen ya over here I asked Carol to watch her a sec," he says. I look over to see Gracie sitting on Carols lap watching me like a hawk. I smile and crook my finger at her. She wiggles out of Carols arms and heads straight for me.

She reaches me and plops down on my lap turning to face me. She puts her little hands on each side of my face.

"Momma why you sad," she says and her voice wobbles a bit. I sigh and twirl the ends of her hair. How do you tell an almost three year old about death?

"We got some bad news," I say. She looks confused and Daryl cuts his eyes to me as if asking if I'm sure. I nod and continue. "We found out Ty went to heaven."

"Like Herschel," she asks sadly. I nearly forgot that she was with Maggie for awhile. I'll need to ask how she explained it. I kiss her forehead.

"Yes like Herschel," I say. We all sit in silence for a minute. Then we decide to pack what we could up. When Rick and the rest get back we have a funeral for Ty and bury him next to Bob.

Rick mentions Washington saying that Eugene might have been on to something with it. None of us have any other ideas so we agree.

We have been on the road for a couple days when we ran out of gas in one car. It was nearly impossible to cram almost twenty people in one car. So we walked and walked for a few days. It was hot and we didn't have water or food. I was holding Gracie's hand and we were shuffling along. Walking more like walkers than humans.

"I'm hungry momma," Gracie whispers. I rub her hand comfortingly.

"I know we'll eat soon," I say trying to smile, but failing miserably. I look up and catch Daryl giving us a pained look. "It's ok," I mumble to him.

"No it's not," he mutters more to the ground than to me.

After awhile we stop to see if we can find anything useful . Daryl takes Gracie and I out and starts digging. He finds a warm and offers it to Gracie. She scrunched her nose. Knowing this is as good as it's getting right now. I squat down next to Daryl and grab the warm. I pop it in my mouth trying not to chew to much.

"It's good Gracie," I say holding back my grimace. She looks skeptical, but when Daryl pulls another warm out she grabs it. She studies it for a minute and then takes a nibble off it.

"Its yucky momma," she says thrusting it at me. "Here you eat it."

I look at Daryl and he looks so defeated I try to get her to eat it again, but she refuses. I ask Daryl if he wants it.

"Nah you eat it. Ya need it more," he says looking at Gracie. I look at her too, but toss the worm in my mouth and swallow.

We meet back at the road with Maggie and Sasha. All of us empty handed. We see the group waiting for us ahead.

"They didn't find anything either," Maggie says frustrated. I nod seeing their slumped shoulders and defeated expressions. "How much longer we got?"

"Sixty miles," Sasha answers detachedly.

"That's not what I meant," she says looking pointedly at me carrying an exhausted Gracie.

I start panicking then. The kids Gracie and Judith will be the first one to succumb. I can't watch her slowly starve and thirst to death. Then watch her turn. I can't do it. That resolve makes me lift her a little higher. I will keep Gracie alive how ever I can.

We keep walking and slowly have a gathering of walkers behind us. Daryl took Gracie away from me awhile back. We're all trying to take turns carrying Gracie and Judith. The good thing about Gracie is she can walk most of the time, but when she can't she's heavier than Judith. She's been getting tired sooner the past couple days as well. Which makes us have to carry her longer.

Daryl and Rick are talking up ahead. Then Daryl looks back at me a sleeping Gracie on his shoulder. His eyes searching our group. I look at him confused. Then he walks to Tara and Tara takes Gracie from him. He comes over to me and touches my arm.

"I'm going to go hunt. You shouldn't be carry Gracie much. Tara's got her," he says. I look at him. Then he lowers his head. "I have to try. I can't let them die," he whispers harshly. I place my hand on the side of his neck running my thumb along his jaw.

"Ok," I say. "Be careful." He looks me in my eyes and nods his head.

"You too," he says. Then he's gone.

We come across a bridge with a long drop on either side. Rick comes up with the idea of standing there and letting the walkers come and shoving them down. Machine, Rick, Sasha, Maggie, Glenn and Abraham are the ones waiting for the walkers the rest of us go to the other end of the bridge.

"I can take her if she's bothering you," I say to Tara pushing Gracie's sweaty hair back from her face. She's still passed out and it worries me. Her face is flushed a bright red her hair is so sweaty it looks like she just showered.

"She's fine. I used to have a niece a little older than her," she says quietly. "Besides you shouldn't be lifting much."

"She's right," Carol agrees.

"I know, but I'm not going to pawn her off on everyone else," I say staring at Gracie's face willing her to just wake up.

"What's that old saying? It takes a village? Think of us as co-parents," Tara says. I smile at her.

"Thanks. It's hard sometimes," I say. "But I'll try."

Then I see rushed movement and notice that the plan isn't working. Our group starts attacking the herd of walkers.

"What happened," I say panicking.

"Sasha broke ranks," Noah says from beside me. Beth looks like a bird getting ready to take flight to go save Maggie, but Carol puts a hand on her shoulder.

"They got this. If they don't then we'll help," she says calmly. I notice Carl tighten his grip on Judith he lets out a startled sound and I whip my head back. A walker has Rick's arm getting ready to chomp down. Then before anyone can react Daryl shows up and rips the walker away. I think I hear everyone release a sigh.

I do a quick scan of everyone. From this distance no one looks hurt.

"No one looks bit," I say, but it comes out like a question. I look over at Carol and see her shake her head in agreement.

That night when we rest I'm leaning into Daryl and Gracie is sprawled across both of our laps. We hear a sound and Daryl pushes Gracie's legs off of his lap and she wakes up. It's three dogs growling at us. They have collars, but have obviously they have gone feral. Before anything can happen Sasha shoots them all. I wasn't expecting that, but I also wasn't expecting Gracie's reaction.

She went from half alert to full blown terrified. Her eyes wide and her body trembling. She starts gasping.

"What's wrong Gracie," I say panicked. I check her over looking for any wounds.

"She did the same thing at Terminus when the guns started up. Hyperventilated and passed out. Did it again when we left. Eugene carried her," Abraham says unconcerned taking another drink of his booze he found. Beth comes over and gets to help her get calmed down. She only starts slowing her breathing when Beth sings.

While we were busy trying to call Gracie down Rick started making a fire. Gracie hugs me tight when she settles down.

"What was that," I say.

"It looked like a panic attack," Beth says.

"Its gunfire. We found that out on the road. Ever since the prison fell," Sasha says. I look at her. I want to tell at her and ask her why she did that if she knew she would react this way, but I also know there wasn't another way really.

That night we eat. I want to say that I felt bad, but I didn't. Gracie ate and we all got full that night. I try not to think about the pets they used to be.

The next day we continue walking. All of us our dehydrated and weak. I see something in the middle of the road and we all stopped. Bottles of water with a note saying from a friend. I want to run up and chug a bottle, but Daryl holds his arm up.

"Somebody could have put something in it," he says. I don't want to believe anyone would be that cruel, but I think of Terminus and Grady. Before we can get in a huge dispute it starts to rain. I hold my face to the rain letting it fall into my mouth.

"Quick get whatever you can," Rick says. We immediately start grabbing bags and bottles. Gracie is laying down on the road holding her mouth open and smiling. It doesn't take long to realize that this isn't a storm we can ride out without shelter.

"I seen a barn," Daryl says.

"Where," Rick yells over the thunder.

After the barn is cleared we all gather inside around a fire trying to dry off. I notice Glenn glaring in a corner and look and see Beth and Noah sitting offly close. I smile and bump his shoulder.

"He's a good kid," I whisper.

"I'll be the judge of that," Glenn says. I smile softly at him.

"Herschel would be proud to know you're watching out for them so well," I whisper. Glenn looks at me making sure I'm not joking then he lets out a breath.

"I'm trying," he says. Our conversation went relatively unnoticed save for Daryl and maybe Rick.

"I think me and sleepy head are going to find a place and lay down," I say going to pick up Gracie, but Daryl stands up and does it. He looks at me raising a defiant eyebrow and I roll my eyes.

"Lead the way," he says. I find a small stall and Daryl lays Gracie down. I sit down by her and look up at Daryl. He goes to turn back to the group and I grab his hand. He looks back at me.

"Stay for a minute," I ask. This is relatively the most privacy we've had since the prison. He sits down beside me. I look at him for awhile just tracing his features with my eyes.

"What you staring at me for," he says in a gruff voice. I smile knowing he's embarrassed. I put my hand under his chin and kiss him. He kisses me back seeming confused for a minute, but it doesn't take long to get into it. No one can see us right now. I grab his shirt and pull him closer and that's when he both stop.

We both try to get our breath back quietly our foreheads resting against each other.

"I've missed you," I whisper. He raises his head and kisses my forehead.

"Me too, but we can't do nothing," he says frustrated.

"I know. I just realized I haven't really kissed you in a long time," I say. He stares at me a while then slowly brings his lips to mine and kisses me again. I pull away this time and quietly giggle just a little.

"What," he says.

"Its just, you know, back in the old days a marriage could be annulled if it wasn't consummated after a few days. I'm not sure on the length of time," I say. I shake my head clear. "Sorry these things pop in my head sometimes." I go to lay down, but he grabs my arm and pulls me up.

"Its not because I don't want to," he whispers in my ear. "You know that right?"

"Yes , I know," I say smiling. I kiss his lips one last time. "When will you be laying down?"

I lay down beside Gracie and look at Daryl he stands up becoming visible to the rest of the group.

"In a bit. I think I might be on watch first. Get some sleep," he says. I nod and turn pulling Gracie to me and curling around her. I hear a mumble then a thump and a curse and some low chuckles. It doesn't take long for me to fall asleep.

I wake up suddenly. I stand up to see the free out, but Daryl is trying to hold the door closed. I run to him and see a herd though the crack of the door. I try to help him. Then Sasha slams against the door and Maggie. Pretty soon we are all trying to keep the door closed. Gracie comes out of the stall.

"Go to Judith," I yell to Gracie pressing my back to the door my feet slipping in the mud. Gracie runs over to Judith and tries to get her to stop crying, but is too scared to do much.

I make eye contact with Sasha and there's a silent understanding there.

I don't know when the pressure from the other side stopped, but it did. I wake up with my head in Daryl's lap and Gracie curled into me. I lift my head up and see Daryl is still awake watching the door. His arm moves off me as I sit up. I look over at him.

"Have you been awake this whole time," I ask trying to clear the sleep from my voice. He looks at me.

"I had to be sure," he mumbles out nodding at the door. The sun is coming through all the gaps and boards of the barn. I look around and see Maggie and Sasha gone. "They went out a while back," he says as if reading my mind. I lean over and kiss his cheek.

"Go to sleep," I say. He looks at me and nods. "I'm going to get someone and go to the bathroom." Daryl's eyes widen a bit.

"I'll go with you," he says trying to stand up. I push his shoulder down.

"I love you , but no. There's something's that should never be shared," I say. I hear a little laugh and look and see Tara waking up.

"I'll go with her," she says. Daryl still looks unsure.

"After last night, there's no them or us," I say lowly. He looks at me and nods seeing the truth. I hadn't realized I separated us like that. The prison group and the add-ons.

Tara and I go behind the barn a little ways. When I pull my panties down to go pew I see some red. I stare at it for a minute terrified.

"Katie you done," Tara asks. I look to where the sound of her voice came, but can't say anything back. "Katie," she says slightly panicked and I hear her footsteps.

"Yeah give me a minute," I say quickly.

When I'm done I meet up with her and we head back to the barn.

"Don't do that. Daryl would kill me if anything happened to you," Tara says.

"Sorry," I say distractedly.

"You okay," she asks. I look and try to smile and nod at her. She doesn't look convinced. When we walk into the barn I see Rick walking up to a man I hadn't seen. He turns around as we walk in and both of our eyes go wide.

"Aaron," I say.

"Katie," he says shocked and then Rick clocks him in the face. Rick looks up at me.

"You know him," he asks. I nod.

"Yeah. That's Aaron," I say looking around and swallow. "My high school boyfriend."

There's a long pause.

"Should've punched him harder," Daryl says.

Authors note: I got a new phone! Finally able to indent and all that jazz. I had two reviewers guess about the Aaron thing. So you guys are awesome! It might have been obvious, but oh well. Guys, guys, guys next chapter Alexandria! I'm hoping this just uploads no copy and pasting but we shall see. Also I'm a couple follows away from reaching 200. And let me know if you want to read the idea for my other story mentioned in the authors note up top. Melissa-.-rex and Gryffindor Rat are the ones who guessed correctly.


	23. Chapter 23

So, so close to 200 followers! And no on said anything about the new story, I'm mildly disappointed. Anyway I'm glad you guys liked the Aaron angle! I tried very hard not to say Katie's name in the last chapter and I thought, maybe, with the dirt and her face still being slightly swollen and the fact it's been a few years since he's seen her, he may not have recognized her right away. Onwards and upwards! Oh ps it actually let me upload last time no copy and paste! Hopefully that continues.

 **Chapter 23**

 **Katie s pov**

"Do you trust him," Rick ask as Daryl ties Aaron up. I notice he pulls the rope extra tight, more than necessary in my opinion. Everyone else is looking out around the barn to see if we're being ambushed. I look at Rick.

"Yes," I say then stop. "Well I did. I don't know him now. This world changes people. He wasn't a bad guy before though."

Rick nods and Maggie starts waking him up with a wet rag.

"That's a hell of a right hook you got there Rick," Aaron says.

"Set him up," Rick yells Maggie.

"I think it's better-" she starts to say but Aaron cuts her off.

"No it's ok. You're being cautious. I completely understand-" he says.

"How many of your people are there," Rick questions him. I've moved around the edge closer to Daryl. He cuts his eyes to me, but quickly looks back at Aaron and Rick. I glance around and see Carl with Judith and Gracie. "You have a flare gun to signal your people. How many are there?"

"Does it matter," Aaron asks.

"Yes," Rick states.

"I mean of course it matters, but does it matter how many I tell you. I'm pretty sure no matter what number I say eight, thirty-two, four-hundred and forty-four or zero. You're not going to trust me," Aaron says. I have to hand it to him he does pick up quick. Daryl eyes me again. I roll my eyes at him and he just shakes his head a tiny bit.

"Its hard to trust anyone that smiles after getting punched in the face," Rick says. I have to agree with him on that one.

"How about a guy who leaves bottles of water in the road," Aaron says. Everyone's eyes go to the bottles. Daryl steps forward.

"How long you people been following us," he rasps out.

"Long enough to see you practically ignore a pack of roamers on your trail. Long enough to see despite a lack of food and water you never turned on one another. You're survivors and you're people. Like I said, and I hope you don't punch me again, that is the most important resource in the world," Aaron says his voice shaky. Everyone's quiet for awhile. Michonne looks at Rick.

"How many is out there," Rick demands again.

"One," Aaron says. He's telling the truth, but I know Rick doesn't believe him. And a part of me doesn't know whether or not to trust my instinct. I don't know if my past with Aaron is messing up with what I feel now. "Knew you wouldn't believe me. If it's not words if it's not pictures. What will it take for you to believe me it's real," he says. Then he looks at me. I try to avoid eye contact. "Katie! Katie you know me. Tell them I'm telling the truth."

I look at him then and everyone looks at me. My eyes pinball to everyone else. This. This is my family. I can't let any of them get hurt. I make eye contact and his shoulders sag in defeat. I give a half smile.

"I'm sorry Aaron. I knew the you before this. This world has a way of changing people. I want to believe you. My gut says you aren't lying, but I'm not sure. I can't put my family in risk. You don't know the types of people we've run into. We need to be sure it's safe," I say gently. He nods in understanding. I look at Rick and he walks over to me. Daryl moving back to where we make a circle of three.

"You're gut is saying he's telling the truth," Rick asks me. I nod.

"About there only being one person out there? Yes," I say. Rick looks back at Aaron then at Daryl. Daryl just shrugs.

"I don't like him for obvious reasons, but I trust her," he says. I roll my eyes.

"Oh my god Daryl he's gay," I whisper.

"Yeah. I know you told me. He's still seen you naked though," he whispers back. Rick just raises an eyebrow silently asking if we're seriously getting into this now. I nod.

"Right. Not the time," I mutter.

"What if I drove you to the community. All of you. If we leave now, we can get there by lunch," Aaron says a bit desperately. Rick clocks his head to the side and I wince that's a tell tell sign he doesn't like what you're saying.

"I'm not sure how the eighteen of us are gonna fit in the car you and your one friend drove down here in," Rick says gesturing to Aaron.

"We drove separately. If we found a group, we wanted to be able to bring them all home. There's enough room for all of us," Aaron says.

"And you're parked just a couple miles away, right," Carol asks in dry tone. Aaron Mott catching her tone or ignoring it answers.

"East on Ridge Road, just after you hit Route 16. We wanted to get closer, but then the storm came, blocked the road. We couldn't clear it," Aaron says.

"Yeah, you've really thought this through," Rick says. I'm terrified he's gonna kill Aaron soon.

"Rick, if I wanted to ambush you, I would do it here. Light the barn on fire while you slept, pick you off as you ran out the only exit. You can trust me."

There's a tense silence for awhile. I'm about to step forward and ask if we can check it out. Then Michonne steps forward.

"I'll check out the cars," she says.

"There aren't any cars," Rick says slowly.

"There's only one way to find out," she says.

"We don't need to find out," Rick says looking up at Michonne.

"We do," she says staring back at Rick, not blinking. "You know what you know and you're sure of it, but I'm not."

"Me neither," Maggie says. Rick looks between the two of them and shakes his head.

"Your way is dangerous, mine isn't," he says.

"Passing up someplace where we can live? Where Judith and Gracie can live? That's pretty dangerous. We need to find out what this is. We can handle ourselves. So that's what we're going to do," Michonne says straightening her back.

"Then I will, too," Glenn says. "I'll go."

"Rick," I say. He looks over at me. "We have to be sure, before we do anything. We have to, or we're no better than them." I don't have to clarify who them is, because it's all of them. It's the Governor, it's Kenny and Terminus. It's Grady. "We're not them."

Rick looks around then his eyes land on the person he's looking for.

"Abraham," he says.

"Yeah. I'll walk them," he says pushing away from the wall.

"Rosita," Rick call out.

"Okay," she answers.

"If there's trouble, you got enough firepower," Rick asks as he walks over to Glenn.

"We got what we got," Glenn answers. Rick pulls a gun from his belt and hands it to Glenn. Daryl goes over and picks Aaron up moving him away from the door.

"The walkers are out of juice. If you're not back in 60 minutes, we'll come," Rick says. Michonne nods. "This might be just what they want." He and Michonne stare at each other a minute. Then she leaves. "If we're all in here, we're a target."

"I've got the area covered," Daryl says. He waves his arm to Noah and Beth. I stop him and he looks at me.

"I'm gonna stay in here with Gracie," I tell him. He looks over at her then back at me and nods.

"I figured. You do everything Rick says. If he says run, you run. If he says duck, you duck. If he says take Aaron out, you take him out," he says not breaking eye contact. I nod and he relaxes a bit gives me a quick kiss on the forehead and leaves.

"All right, groups of two, find somewhere safe within eyeshot," Rick says. Everyone clears out except Rick, the kids, Aaron and me. Rick follows Carl to the door and closes the door.

"When the world was still the world, I worked for an NOG. Our mission was to deliver food and medicine to the Niger River Delta. Bad people pointed guns in my face every other week. You're not bad people. You're not going g to kill us. And we are defiantly not going to kill you," Aaron says. I look at Rick and look at Aaron. That's when it hits me. Aaron hasn't been out there. He doesn't know that killing someone doesn't mean you're bad. Just like not killing someone doesn't make you good. You do what you have to, to protect the ones you love.

"Just because we're good people doesn't mean we won't kill you," Rick says mirroring my thoughts. "If the five of then aren't back in an hour, I'll put a knife in the base of your skull."

I look at Aaron and see his face go pale. I walk over to Gracie and she looks up at me. Her eyes wide and scared. I bend down and tuck her hair behind her ear.

"I'm hungry," she whispers cutting her eyes to Aaron ad looking back at me. Judith starts fussing. So Rick tries to crush some nuts up. I look at what they pulled out of Aarons bag and see two jars of what appears to be applesauce. I know they aren't for Aaron because he hates it. His mom always tried to force him to eat stuff that she thought would make him more of a man. She absolutely loved me. She would tell me I could spend the night or she would leave for hours on end if Aaron and I went to his house to study. Anything to try to make him not gay.

Aaron starts pleading with Rick when Judith starts really letting it out. Rick finally grabs a spoon and takes it over to Aaron and makes him try it. Aaron tries to refuse.

"How would killing your baby daughter help me," he says.

"Maybe it just makes her sick and only you can help her," Rick says trying to push the spoon in his mouth.

"Just suck it up Aaron. One bite and it's over," I say. Aaron looks up at me with a hurt look.

"I hate applesauce," he says. I let one side of my mouth come up.

"I know, but you don't have to eat the whole thing. Just a bite," I tell him. He finally takes a bite trying to swallow it without tasting it. After that I gave Gracie a jar of her own and Rick started feeding Judith. I notice Aaron keeps messing them his hands and I see they are getting a blue color. I roll my eyes Daryl really made them too tight.

"Rick I'm going to flooding his ties. They're cutting off circulation," I say walking over to Aaron. Rick gets up and follows me drawing his gun.

"You try anything. I won't hesitate," he says to Aaron. I gently untie his hands and then tie them back where they aren't in danger of falling off. After Aaron is tied back up Rick moves away to finish feeding Judith. I look over and see Gracie trying to use her spoon to get the last little bit from the bottom of the jar.

"I didn't hear you had a daughter," Aaron says looking at me. I look over and decide to sit down next to him.

"I saved her," I say and let out a sigh. "And she saved me."

Aaron looks at Rick and then lowers his voice.

"Did any of them do that to you," he asks. I look at him confused for a minute and then remember that although I can see out of my right eye again, it's still bruised. I touch it and shake my head.

"No. They would never. The person who did this is dead," I say nonchalantly. Aaron looks surprised at me. I smile. "Just cause we're good people doesn't mean we haven't killed. It was us or them and we chose us." I look at him. "It will always be us," I say letting him know where I stood.

"You changed," he says unsurprised.

"This world does that, Aaron. I've been threatened, chased, captured and beat. We all have. That's why we're so cautious. We've lost so much. You couldn't possibly know how much. We can't afford to lose anything else," I say standing up and dusting my butt off. "If you aren't lying then this may be a great friendship. If you are lying, well then you've changed too."

He looks up at me like I'm a puzzle he's trying to solve. I walk back over to Gracie who is still trying to scrape the jar. Her tongue is sticking out and her eyebrows are drawn in.

"Here let me see," I say. She looks up at me and hands it over. I take the spoon and show her how to scrape along the sides. She gets a whole bite out of what's left. "There you go."

She smiles at me and I can't help, but grin back. I look over at Rick and see that he's done feeding Judith and she's almost in a food coma. Then I hear cars Rick and I glance at each other and then we both bolt to the door. We see an RV pulling up and Abraham at the wheel.

There's a stack of canned food sitting on our designated table.

"This is ours," Rick says.

"There's more than enough," Aaron assures him.

"This is ours whether we decide to go or not," Rick says.

"Why wouldn't we go," Carl asks confused.

There's a big discussion after that. I try to follow, but honestly my eyes are trained on a can of ravioli. I feel something move beside me and then Daryl is walking over to the pile of cans. He grabs the can of ravioli and take she is knife popping it open. Then he grabs a fork, that must have been in the RV, and sticks it in the ravioli . Then he thrust the can in my direction. Everyone had stopped talking when he walked up to the pile of cans and watch him in silence. I try to refuse, but he just looks at me. So, I gently take it from his hand, but the moment I take the first bite there is nothing gentle about it. I hardly chew nearly swallowing the pieces of ravioli whole.

I glance around and everyone is quick to look away and the discussion picks back up. I move away from the group and Gracie follows me. I continue eating out of the can. Gracie asks if she can have a bite and I share with her.

I'm pulling a Gracie and scraping the sides to get all of the sauce when Daryl walks over. I look up at him and he sits down in front of me.

"We're leaving tonight," he says. I look up at him startled.

"We're driving at night," I ask my voice rising slightly. He nods.

"It's the only way to be sure there's no one following us," he says. "So, rest up."

Then he leans back against a post and closes his eyes. I stare at him a moment then look around and notice others doing the same. Gracie's eyes are drooping from being full. So, I turn around until I can put my head on Daryl's lap and pull Gracie into my side. I don't fall asleep as much as I just rest.

As soon as night came we headed out. Rick, Michonne, Glenn and Aaron are in the car and the rest of us are in the RV. Abraham is driving and Rosita is in the passenger seat. I thought being in a car and on the move would settle Daryl, but he's still pacing like a caged tiger. Gracie and Judith are in the back laying in the bed. Beth is watching them. There's a tense silence. None of us are comfortable traveling at night.

Then Abraham slams on the breaks and I look and see the car swerving trying to miss the herd of walkers.

"Back up back up," Daryl yells leaning between the drivers seat and passenger seat. I run to the back to make sure Gracie and Judith are ok. Carl is right behind me. Beth is holding both Gracie and Judith trying to calm them down. I grab Gracie and she clings to me and then I fall onto the bed, because Abraham is making a sharp turn. I roll into Beth who is still holding Judith, Carl has grabbed the door frame.

I hear running and then Noah is in the doorway.

"You guys ok," he calls out and then Daryl is behind him looking me and Gracie over. His eyes stop on mine and I nod my head to let him know we're ok. He nods once then takes off to the front of the RV.

I look out the window and see a flare going up.

"Daryl," I yell.

"Yeah we see it," he yells back. I let my head fall back on the bed and let out a sigh. Then I start running my fingers through Gracie's hair trying to calm her down.

When we reach where the flare went off we're surprised to not find our people but a man fending off walkers. He looks like he's injured. Daryl lets out a couple arrows killing two walkers before anyone could blink. Then Sasha kills a few more. Maggie and Noah run over and grab the man.

We head into a building that looks secure. Maggie helps the man, who we find out is Eric.

"It's a broken ankle. It's like a volleyball injury you'll be ok," she says after wrapping it. He smiles.

"I'll have our doctor look at it when we get back," he says. I look at him sharply.

"You have a doctor? What kind," I ask. Maggie looks at me then back at Eric.

"A surgeon. He's really good," he says. My shoulders slump. "But he does checkups," Eric quickly tries to reassure. I smile at him. Maggie gets up and walks over to me.

"Come on lets go check on the kids," we walk to the room wee put Gracie and Judith in. Beth, Noah and Eugene are sitting with them, but Maggie pulls me away from the room. "What's wrong," Maggie whispers when she thinks we're far enough away from everyone.

I lick my lips. I hadn't had time to worry about the spotting with Aaron showing up and everything that followed.

"This morning when I went to the bathroom I noticed some blood," I whisper trying to keep my voice from cracking. Maggie looks startled for a minute, but then starts questioning me.

"Was there a lot? Some women spot during pregnancy it's normal," she says. I shake my head.

"No, not a lot but it was there," I say I take a breath. "Maggie we haven't been able to tell anyone, because everyone's been stressed out as it is, but I have more to worry about with this pregnancy."

"I understand it's been a very stressful pregnancy, but you've made it this far," she says nodding her head. "I'm sure the baby will be fine," she tries to reassure rubbing my arm. I swallow hard.

"Babies," I whisper. Her hand stops moving and she looks at me. "Two, to be exact," I say holding two fingers up just to make sure she understood.

"Oh," she says shocked. Then she shakes her head. "How did you find out?"

"Grady, they had an ultrasound machine. After Dawn roughed me up Lambson took me to Edwards and made him check that they were ok. Well, he didn't know there were two, but anyway they were fine when I left there. Strong heartbeats and everything," I say trying to be hopeful. Maggie smiles and nods.

"I'm sure they are fine," she says. She looks past me shoulder thinking and she starts absentmindedly rubbing my arm again. She looks back at my face. "We'll make it work. Does Daryl know?"

"Do I know what," Daryl says walking up behind me. I look over my shoulder.

"About the babies, yeah he knows," I answer hoping she figures out that he doesn't know about the spotting. I look back at her and she nods.

"Okay," she says walking away. I turn around and face Daryl. I put two finger s in one of his belt loop pulling him closer. He lets out a little noise but steps closer.

"You ok," he asks putting his left hand on my hip. His frame is blocking anyone from seeing me.

"Yeah I'm fine," I say. His thumb brushes my stomach under my shirt.

"And them," he asks. I bite my lip and stare at him. There's a knowing look in his eyes that I don't like.

"How much did you hear," I ask defeated.

"Enough. Do you think they're ok," he grunts out looking away from me.

"I think so, but it would be nice to _know_ you know," I whisper. He nods leans in and kisses my forehead and just stays there. I breath him in and then pull away. I smile at him. "And besides doesn't the saying go 'nothing can kill a Dixon, but a Dixon' these babies are strong. I know it," I say trying to infuse all the confidence I can into my words. Daryl goes to open his mouth, but something catches his attention. We runs outside and whistles. There's an answering whistle and I see Rick and Michonne run up followed by Glenn and Aaron.

We all run out to greet them and Aaron is calling for Eric.

"He's fine. He's inside," I say to him. He runs past me.

Rick tries to get Aaron to sleep away from Eric that night, but Glenn talks him out of it. When we're all laying down for the night, me by Daryl, I hear him snort. I look over at him raising an eyebrow. He shakes his head. It's pretty dark and I have to squint to see his features.

"I don't know about them staying together. They could try to sneak out," he says. This time I snort and he looks at me. "I don't trust him."

"You don't like him because of our past. Trust me, you have nothing to worry about. As far as then sneaking away, how? Abraham has the keys to the RV. Eric has a broken ankle. And on that note how would you feel if someone told you, you couldn't be with me when I was injured," I say then put my hand over his mouth, "No, don't answer that because I know exactly what would happen. Bodies would hit the floor and you wouldn't think twice. So shut up and lets try to rest."

I hear a chuckle and realize Glenn isn't to far from us. Then Daryl picks up decent size rock from the floor.

"What was that chinaman," Daryl says.

"Nothing. Just the sound of a whip," Glenn says from the darkness and then Daryl chunks the rock.

"Oh, what the hell Dixon. You got night vision or something," Glenn says. Then I hear Abraham chuckle.

"Go to sleep. We have a long day ahead of us," Rick says no humor in his voice. I sigh and curl in closer to Daryl. Gracie is laying on the other side of Daryl. She had went to sleep quickly after eating. It takes a minute , but eventually Daryl pulls me closer. I smile and close my eyes.

The next day we load back up. Rick found two other cars. He Michonne, Carl, and Judith rode in one. Carol, Glenn, Maggie and Beth in the other. Everyone else was in the RV. Eric was laying in the bed and Aaron was with him. Noah, Eugene, Tara were playing cards. Father Gabriel was sitting by himself staring at nothing. I found a pencil and paper and was letting Gracie scribble on it.

"Abraham," Rosita says from the front seat, "look." She nods her head in the direction of some buildings and I realize it's Washington. I look over at Daryl and smile slightly. He nods and looks back out the windshield.

"How much further we got," Abraham asks. Rosita answers him. "We can make it. We're going to make it."

I wonder why we wouldn't, but I glance down at Gracie and draw with her. I write her name and go over the letters.

"G. R. A. C. I. E. That spells Gracie," I say and smile at her. Then I do my name.

"Do D-role's," she says. I glance over at Daryl and see on side of his mouth lift. I lower my head and write his name as well. Then in an act of middle school theatrics I draw a heart around the names. Tara sees it and smiles at me. I roll my eyes and continue to doddle.

Then the RV starts making strange noises. Abraham pushes the horn once to let the cars ahead know. We all get out and Abraham is cussing the RV. Glenn opens it and smiles.

"It just needs a battery," he says.

"And where we going to get one," Abraham asks. I have to agree there's no other cars around and no way twenty people can fit in two cars. Glenn walks around and opens up a secret compartment in the steps. There sits two new batteries.

"How'd you know it was there," Abraham asks. Glenn just smiles.

"Come on," he says.

They fix up the RV quickly and we're off again. Thirty minutes later we pull up to a gate. There's steel walls up. We all step out and Rick stands there for a minute listening. We all hear it then. Life. I look over at Daryl and smile.

Authors note: okay I don't know how often I can update I'm starting classes this summer. I'm nervous and excited. Haven't been in school a few years. So, wish me luck. I'm hoping it doesn't take up a whole bunch of time, but I will try to update fairly soon. I can't leave it like this for long. And out of curiosity am I strange that I can picture my characters on Talking Dead? Anyone else do that? Or am I alone? I'm thinking of starting that new story though, because that character isn't leaving me alone. I'll have to see if I can handle the classes in starting first. Anyway I love all the reviews! Keep them coming please!


	24. Chapter 24

I've been watching the show with subtitles so I can be accurate. No, idea if it's messing me up or helping me to be honest. Anyway onwards and upwards. (Warning pretty much a filler nothing substantial happens, but some cute little scenes)

 **Chapter 24**

 **Katie's pov**

We all cautiously approach the gate. Aaron is supporting Eric. I'm walking beside Daryl and Gracie is pushing as close as she can to my legs. We hear something to our left and Daryl pulls us behind him while shooting. It was only a opossum. Daryl bends down and picks it up by it's tail just as the gate opens.

"We brought dinner," he says holding it up. I have to bite the inside of my lip to stop my smile. The guys at the gate seem horrified. Yep, just like I thought, they never had to live out there like we did.

"Its okay," Aaron says. "Come on in guys."

Gracie is pretty much hugging my leg now so I shuffle in. Daryl stays right beside me. Eric is taking away.

"He going to the doctor," Daryl asks Aaron.

"Yes," he says.

"Katie needs to go," he says still holding that opossum in his hand. I hit his thigh with the back of my hand. Daryl looks at me. I shake my head. "What? You need to go," he harshly whispers.

"Am I missing something," Rick says lowly to us.

"No," I answer.

"Yes," Daryl says. "Something about spotting."

No one outside of our group could hear the whispered conversation. Rick looks over at me.

"Go see the doctor," Rick says, in his authoritative voice. "Daryl will go with you."

"And so will I," Maggie says. Rick nods his head then looks at Aaron.

"Katie needs to go to the doctor and she's going to go, now," he says firmly.

"First you need to hand over your weapons," the guy at the gate says. "And see Deanna."

"Who's Deanna," Abraham demands.

"We don't know if we want to stay, but I do know that she's going to see your doctor," Rick says taking a step to the guy.

"Its fine, Nicholas," Aaron says.

"Besides, if we were going to use them we would have started already," Rick says. Not the best first impression.

"Let them talk to Deanna first," Aaron says.

"Again. Who's Deanna," Abraham nearly bellows.

"She knows everything you want to know about this place," Aaron answers.

"She a doctor," Daryl asks. Aaron shakes his head. "Then I don't need to see her right now. Take me to the doctor or I start shooting more then opossums."

"Oh for gods sake. I'm pregnant. I spotted yesterday. I just want to see if the babies are ok and then we can talk to this Deanna," I say rubbing my forehead where I can feel a headache. Rick looks back at us. There's a long pause.

"Babies," he asks. Then I feel everyone's eyes on me. My hand falls to my side.

"Yeah you didn't think this one though, Rapunzel," Daryl says quietly to me. I turn scarlet.

"Um, yeah. Found out at Grady," I say lowly.

"What babies," Gracie whispers into my leg. I guess all the new faces are making her shy. Honestly, I can't blame her. She looks over at Judith and then around like she missed something.

"Really didn't think it though," Daryl mutters. I keep myself from elbowing him and ignore Gracie's question.

"I guess we can make an exception," Aaron says in a shocked voice. He leads us to the Doctors office. The whole group follows, not trusting anyone after they wanted to take our weapons. Abraham looks like he's protecting the freaking president. We're all looking around, ready to recognize and eliminate any threat.

They all wait outside, guarding the door. Daryl, Maggie, Gracie and I go in. There's a guy standing over Eric looking at his foot. He glances up when we walk in.

"Well, if you're here for the opossum, I can safely say he's beyond saving," he says smiling and something feels off about him. He walks over to us leaving Eric on one of the exam tables. "I'm Pete Anderson. What can I help you with?"

"You a doctor," Daryl asks. It comes out as more of a statement then a question.

"Yes," Pete answers.

"My wife is pregnant. Needs to know if they're ok," Daryl says. Maggie glances sharply at me then looks down at my hand.

"Well you're just full of secrets, aren't ya," she says smiling. I blush.

"I'm afraid all I have is a stethoscope and that only works if she's so far along. Do you know how far along you are," he asks. I shake my head.

"Best guess is maybe two and a half months. Give or take some," I say. He nods.

"Any reason to be concerned," he asks while gesturing me to sit down on the available exam table.

"There was some spotting yesterday," I say.

"And there's two of 'em in there," Daryl adds. I glare at him and he glares right back. "It's my kids in there. I want to make sure they're alright, along with you," he whispers harshly. Pete freezes a minute and looks up at me.

"Twins, huh? How'd you find that out," he asks.

"We were at a place with an ultrasound, but the guy didn't know how to read it to tell how far along I was," I say. Pete places the stethoscope on my bare stomach I suck in a breath because of the cold. He moves it around stopping here and there, but only briefly. Then continues to move it.

"Any pain," he asks. I shake my head no. "Well, unfortunately I can't hear anything resembling heartbeats. I believe it was just normal spotting, but if you experience pain come directly here. We'll do weekly checks to find out if we can hear anything at another time. In the meantime, we have some prenatal vitamins for you to take. I'm sorry I can't be of more help."

I'm disappointed we don't have a definite answer, but relieved that he thinks it was normal. Daryl snorts and mumbles 'some doctor' under his breath. Pete hands me a bottle with what looks like horse pills. How the hell am I supposed to swallow those?

"I can do a quick check up on this little one if you want though," Pete says. Smiling at Gracie. She frowns at him and buries her face in my leg.

"Maybe another time. We are supposed to go meet Deanna," I say. Hopping off the table with Daryl's help.

When we walk out everyone stands up at once. It surprises me that everyone is so worried about me, but it makes me smile all the same. I look at Sasha's face and see a brief moment of concern and then she looks away, scanning the row of houses.

"Too soon to know anything. He's hopeful everything is ok, but it's just a wait and see thing," I say feeling like I let everyone down by not having more information.

"Everything, is gonna be fine," Beth says smiling. She places a hand on my arm. "It has to be."

I smile and hope she's right.

Aaron leads us down to a house and there's a short lady standing out front.

"Well I was expecting you sooner, but Nicolas said that Pete was the first stop. I understand. Is everything ok," she asks looking at all the women wondering which one was the pregnant girl.

"We don't know yet," Rick says putting an end to the searching. Deanna looks at him and smiles.

"Well you must be Rick," she says.

Deanna wants to interview us all. Rick goes first. We all sit down and I notice we all instinctively look in different directions. No blind spots. People walk by and gawk at us.

"I feel like an animal in a zoo," I tell Daryl. He looks up from cleaning his knife.

"Ignore 'em," he mutters looking back down and using the same knife to clean his nails. Gracie is sitting on the other side of me curled into my side. Her eyes wide soaking everything in.

"Easy for you to say," I tell him. He looks up at me.

"The only person who's opinion matters to me is yours," he says lowly so no one else hears. I smile and lean in and whisper in his ear.

"You know you're kind of romantic when you want to be," I whisper.

"Stop it," he says shrugging me off. I smile wider.

"I feel better now that I seen a doctor. It probably is normal. I haven't been cramping or anything," I say trying to stay positive. I shake the pill bottle at him. "And now I have these. So, it's already looking up."

Rick finally comes out of Deanna's house and says it's ok to stay. We have to turn in all of our guns. We get to keep our knifes. I want to snort. They haven't seen us with knifes, we're just as deadly. Daryl keeps his crossbow, which I'm relieved because I don't think he could cope without it, and Michonne keeps her sword. Carol clumsily puts her guns on the tray and I look away not wanting to give up whatever she's getting at

"They are still your guns. You can take them out anytime you leave. Just not inside the gates," Deanna says.

Aaron takes us to two houses the furthest from the gate.

"They're yours," he says proudly. We look at him.

"You're giving us two houses," Rick asks.

"Well, with eighteen people and two more on the way, you're going to need the room. I would personally go with the one on the corner. More curb appeal," Aaron says. "If you need me just call."

We all look at him confused.

"I mean I'm two houses down. We don't have phones," he says. Then kind of awkwardly leaves.

"Aaron," I call and walk after him. Gracie staying with Daryl. Aaron turns around. "You know why I couldn't just trust you, right?"

"I understand. I wish you would have though. May have saved us a lot of trouble, but I get it. You were protecting yours," he says. Then he glances behind me and I look too, only to see Daryl holding Gracie and staring a hole in us. "He does know I'm gay, right?"

"Yep, unfortunately he also knows I lost my virginity to you as well," I say smiling. Aaron's face loses color. I laugh. "I'll try and talk to him."

"Please do," he says. I turn around, but Daryl is coming towards me. He's carrying Gracie and is almost marching over to me.

"Hey, I figure we might as well go together for this interview crap," he grunts not slowing down his march.

"He's gay Daryl and I was the one to drive that idea home," I say matching his pace. I look down and notice he still has that damn opossum. "Could have left that at the house," I say. He looks down at it.

"Forgot I had it," he answers slowing down slightly.

"We seeing babies," Gracie asks in an exasperated voice. Daryl and I look at each other. I realize my Gracie is growing up. She's repeating everything she hears and she doesn't miss much. We are all going to have to watch what we say around her.

"No, not yet." I opt out of telling her just yet. We are about to be at Deanna's and this deserves more than a five minute conversation. "Hey, maybe they have crayons here," I say to distract her.

Daryl goes in to see Deanna first, while I wait in the hallway with Gracie. Luckily, Gracie isn't hard to keep entertained. She was messing with a bell she found on the table. When she first made it ring she nearly had a heart attack. Then looked at me with these wide eyes. I realized she was scared to make noise. I smiled and reassured her, but when she found out she could hold the middle part and it doesn't make a noise she was more relaxed. Daryl walks out.

"That was quick," I say. Rick was in there for awhile. Daryl shrugs.

"Not much to say," he says. I stand up and Daryl takes my spot.

"Hey, Gracie you want to come with me or stay out here with Daryl," I ask. Gracie looks back and forth between us her little hand still fisted around the bell.

"I stay with D-role," she says. Then stares back at her reflection in the silver bell. "But come back," she says firmly. I bend down and kiss the top if her head. I look at Daryl to make sure he's ok. He gives me a slight nod and looks to see what Gracie has in her hand.

I walk in and sit in the chair across from Deanna, who's sitting on the couch.

"Hello, you mind if I record this," she asks. I look at the video camera.

"If I say no, what happens," I ask.

"I turn it off and we continue," she says. "But I feel that it's best to be as transparent as possible."

"I guess you can leave it on," I say unsure. Deanna smiles at me.

"Good. I promise it's not used against you," she says. "I hear you're the expectant mother."

I nod looking around the room. I have no idea where to focus. It's been awhile since I seen a house that was still intact and not run down from abandonment.

"Congratulations. Are you worried at all," she says. I give her a look and she smiles. "Well, of course this isn't an ideal world, but when was it? Oh, I'm sorry can you state your name, before we continue?"

"Katie Tho- I mean Dixon. Katie Dixon," I say. I look at her then look away. I'm uneasy and I realize it's from being alone with someone who's not one of us.

"What was it you did before all this," she asks.

"I worked at a daycare," I say. I'm sure I look like an idiot because I keep studying the room.

"And the girl, Gracie, right," she asks and I nod. "She's yours?"

"Yes," I say finally looking directly at her.

"Were you and Mr. Dixon together before all this," she asks.

"No," I say smiling. "Honestly, I don't think either of us would have paid attention to the other before all this. He didn't like me at first, but he very rarely likes anyone at first."

"What made you like him," she asks. I smile and shake my head.

"I have no clue. I was fascinated with him from the go. He's calm and quiet where I'm anxious and a bit too talkative. He looks gruff, but he saved me and Gracie when he didn't have too. He's a cluster of contradictions," I say.

"I noticed," Deanna says smiling at me. "How did you meet with the group?"

"Daryl and Maggie found Gracie and I hiding at my old daycare. They went there looking for formula for Judith. They took me in and I've been with them ever since."

"I hear you knew Aaron from before," she says.

"Yes, we dated in high school," I say.

"Well that must have been interesting," she says smiling.

"Oh, we were both aware. We were just appeasing his parents," I say.

"I see. Do you want to be here Katie," she asks.

"That's a broad question. Like here in this room with a camera facing me? Or here in Alexandria? Or here as in alive and in the world? To the first, not particularly. To the second, it's better than being out there, fighting for our lives. And not just with walkers and the elements, but other people too. I'm still not sure if this place is real or fake yet. And to the last, yes I have a family now. I lost mine before all this. It took the world falling apart for me to find people I care about and people who care about me."

There's a pause were Deanna soaks in what I said.

"I told you I was a bit talkative," I say as an explanation.

"No, I believe that's the first really honest answer I ever got from that question. You've ran into other communities," she asks. I snort.

"If you want to call them that," I say.

"What do you mean," she asks.

"Well one _community_ lured us in saying it was a sanctuary, but they were cannibals. I was separated from the group at the time because of someone attacking our home," I say. I smile. "We had a real community. We had crops, fences. We let people in." I stop smiling. "That was our downfall. We let the wrong person in." I shake off the bad memories. "Anyway, I got away from the cannibals, but when the rest went to Terminus they got thrown in a train car. I'm not entirely sure how they got out of that one," I lie. Daryl told me what Carol did, but from Carol's little show with the gun I get the feeling she doesn't want them to know. "Then I got taken by another group claiming they saved me so that meant I owed them. Modern day slavery I guess. I wasn't there long when I ran into Beth and Carol. Daryl hunted us down. And Rick and the rest got us out," I say. I look at her then. "The thing you need to understand about us, is very simple. We are a family. You hurt one of us and there will be no questions. No second chances. We lost too many to let that happen. We stand up for each other and _to_ each other. Rick is, for all intents and purposes, our leader, but he listens to all of us. If you are trying to trick us or trap us it will be the last thing you do," I didn't realize I was leaning forward during my speech, but when I do I move back and sit up straight. "Sorry, I just think it's best you realize why we are the way we are. For transparency sake."

"No, don't apologize. I find the honesty refreshing. And you aren't telling me anything I didn't know. Just adding more details. You don't think I didn't notice how each one of your group went to Peter's office with you? How everyone trusted Rick when he said it was alright to turn in the guns? I notice a great deal Mrs. Dixon," She looks at me like she knows all of my secrets. Then she smiles. "We are who we say we are. You, all of you, are safe here," she says. "Now, you said you worked at a daycare? Would you still like to work with children?"

After we had that all settled, I walk out and see that Gracie and Daryl are gone. Maggie is sitting in their spot. She looks up and smiles.

"Gracie was getting antsy so Daryl took her to the house. Thought maybe she was hungry," she says. I nod and bite my lip.

"I might have said too much," I say sitting down beside her. She pulls her eyebrows together.

"Like what," she says.

"I told her about Terminus and Grady. Not all the gory details, but enough for her to know that we take care of our own," I say cutting my eyes to Maggie. Maggie smiles and puts her hand on my shoulder.

"Its not a secret Katie. You didn't tell her anything the others haven't I'm sure," she says. Then Deanna steps out.

"Maggie," she says holding her arm open so she can step into the room. Maggie stands gracefully and goes into the room.

When I walk out of Deanna's house, I see Abraham and Rosita are waiting outside. Abraham looks odd without his gun in his hand.

"Daryl asked us to walk you back to the house. Gracie was getting a tad screechy," Rosita says. Any other time I would have rolled my eyes, but this is a new place and its still uncharted water. So, instead I nod and we walk on down the street.

I have to smile at Abraham he's on high alert and taking his guard duty very seriously. I glance at Rosita and she raises in eyebrow questioningly. So I cut my eyes to Abraham and she looks. She smiles slightly and shakes her head a bit.

I honestly haven't had much time to talk with them, but if Daryl and Rick trust them I trust them.

"What did you do before this Rosita," I ask.

"A little bit of everything really. I got bored easily and quit or let myself get fired. What about you," she asks.

"I worked at a daycare," I say.

"Power to you for dealing with screaming kids all day. God knows I couldn't," she says.

We reach the houses and Abraham and Rosita head back towards Deanna's. I call out a thanks and Rosita puts her hand up to let me know she heard. I see Daryl sitting on the porch skinning the opossum and Gracie sitting on the step above him eating a sliced apple. She's watching his every move and scrunching her nose every once in awhile. I walk up to them . Gracie looks up and smiles at me.

"Want some momma," she says uncurling her hand for a slightly browned apple.

"No thanks baby. You eat it," I say sitting down next to her. Daryl glances up at me then looks back down at his task.

"Well," he asks.

"I talked too much. I'm not sure how much scrutiny we'll be under," I say. I pick Gracie up and set her on my lap and curl around her. I just need some reassurance right now. Gracie turns around and smiles at me then continues eating her apple slices. Daryl stops and looks at me.

"I'm sure you did fine," he says, but before he can say anymore Rick, Carl and Carol walk out. I did double then triple take at Rick.

"Woah, you had a face under all that," I say. Carol smiles slightly and I notice she's cleaned up and dressed in a cardigan and khakis. Rick just shakes his head a bit. He and Daryl make eye contact and Rick shifts his head to the side and Daryl nods back.

"Watch my opossum," Daryl says. I look up at him and see him fighting a smile.

"Although they do play dead, I'm pretty sure there's no coming back from that," I say pointing to the mangled mess of innards. Daryl looks at it then back at me.

"Could be a walker opossum," he says with a smirk. Then he follows Rick and Carol around the house. I sit there staring at the dead oversized rodent and wonder why animals aren't infected. Then shake it off and decide just to be thankful they aren't.

"Is it a walker," Gracie asks. I didn't realize she stiffened up in my arms after he said that. I pull her in tight and kiss the back of her head.

"No, Gracie. Daryl was just joking," I say. She relaxes and pops the last apple slice in her mouth.

"All done," she says. She holds her hands up with her fingers spread wide and turns her head to look at me smiling. I smile back. Daryl comes back around followed by Rick and Carol. Daryl sits back down and finishes cleaning the opossum.

"We're staying in one house tonight," he says not looking up from skinning the rest of the opossum.

"Kinda figured that was a done deal," I say.

Later that night, after Gracie and I had our bath, I was running a comb through her hair and starting to braid it. I hadn't noticed how light her hair has gotten with being out in the sun all day. Daryl is standing by us looking out the window. He still hasn't showered. Michonne walks out of the bathroom.

"How long was I in there for," she says smiling. She still has a toothbrush in her hand.

"Twenty minutes," Rick answers. Michonne stops and stares at him.

"What," he says.

"I just haven't seen your face like that," she says. I giggle slightly. Still braiding Gracie's hair.

"Yeah, that's how I felt. Before and after," he says rubbing his chin.

There's a knock at the door and everyone gets up ready for an attack. I reach my arm out ready to hand Daryl his crossbow, which is sitting by me. Rick opens it and Deanna steps in. We all slightly relax and I go back to Gracie's hair.

"Rick I-wow," she says. I giggled again and finished tying off Gracie's braid.

"Yeah," Rick groans.

"I didn't know what was under there," she says. "Listen, I don't mean to interrupt. I just wanted to stop by and see how you were all settling," she says, but stops when she sees all of us in the living room. Gracie stands up and climbs up beside me and I put my arm around her. "Oh my. Staying together. Smart."

"No one said we couldn't," Rick says defensively.

"You said you're a family. That's what you said." She looks over at me and smiles. I straighten my spine. "You protect each other, from all threats. I understand you're worry. I hope you trust us soon," she says. Then she looks over all of us again. "Absolutely amazing to me how people with completely different backgrounds and nothing in common can become that. Don't you think?"

"Everybody said you gave them jobs," Rick says.

"Yeah, apart of this place. Looks like the communists won after all," she says laughing.

"Well you didn't give me one," he says.

"I have. I just haven't told you yet. Same with Michonne. I'm closing in on something with Sasha. And I'm just trying to figure Mr. Dixon out, but I will," she says. Daryl sits on the edge of the chest Gracie and I are sitting on. He just looks over at her and back out the window, but until that moment he was avidly watching conversation between Rick and Deanna. I lean into his back slightly. Deanna is about to leave, but she turns to Rick "You look good," she adds smiling. Then leaves.

After that we all pick a spot and lay down. Gracie has a bought of energy. She starts running around the room and stopping in random spots.

"I sleep here momma," she asks climbing in the chair. I sigh.

"Yes, if you want too," I say. I told her she can sleep where ever she wanted in the room. I know regret my decision. She's more relaxed since its just us. She grins real big, hops off the chair and promptly falls to the floor rolling under the table.

"I sleep here," she asks. Luckily, everyone seems to be finding her antics funny rather than annoying.

"Np, that's my spot," Tara says. Gracie gives her a mean look.

"No. You too big," she says. Before I can get on to her for being mean. Tara squeezes under the table pushing her out.

"Nope, not too big. And I was going to share with you, but you were mean. So, now you have to find a new spot," Tara says. Gracie pushes herself up and crosses her arms. She marches over to me and hides her head in my chest. I know she's embarrassed about getting in trouble.

"You can't be mean to your friends, or you won't have any," I whisper in her ear. "Maybe if you go say sorry. She'll let you sleep there."

She shakes her head. I sigh this girl really needs her sleep.

"Well, you're gonna go say sorry to Tara, but you are going to sleep over here with Daryl and me," I say. She mutters her sorry into my chest. "No. You are going to go over there and tell her sorry."

She pulls away from me and I see angry tears in her eyes. Please, please tell me she's not hitting her terrible twos late. I'm hoping this is just attitude from lack of sleep.

"Go. Now," I say sternly pointing at Tara. No one is really paying attention any more except Daryl and Tara. Although, Tara is pretending not to notice our conversation. Gracie drops her angry stance.

"Come with me momma," she says grabbing my hand. I follow her the whole two foot distance to the coffee table.

"Sorry," she says then turns into me.

"It's alright. Next time ask and maybe I'll share," she says. "Hey still friends," she says holding out a fist. Gracie looks at it not knowing what to do. So Tara grabs her hand and shows her what to do and then they fist bump. Gracie giggles at that and runs over to Daryl to show him.

Everyone is laying down now. I'm pretty sure Gracie was out before Rick shut the lights off. I lay awake and I can feel Daryl is awake beside me. I'm sandwiched between him and Gracie.

"Do you think this place is real," I whisper. He shrugs. I turn over so I can face him he turns his head to look at me. There's enough light coming in the windows from the moon that I can clearly see his face. "What do you think though?"

"I think they are nice enough. Haven't tried to attack us, yet. It's also only the first night," he says. We're talking quietly and it reminds me of our whispered conversations at the prison. I smile and then start tearing up. Daryl's eyes get big. "But I don't think they will." He quickly tries to reassure me, but the tears wont stop.

"I miss home," I whisper. "I miss Herschel and Ty. I even miss Merle. I miss being able to talk to Sasha out in the field while Gracie played. I miss the pigs. I miss everything. I can't talk to Sasha. Gracie is getting bigger. I'm trying to be optimistic about these babies, but I'm freaking out. Theres so much that can happen. What if I fail as a mom? What if we get separated again," I say. I know I'm starting to get hysterical and I'm trying to stay quiet so I won't wake anyone up. Daryl pulls me to him and holds me until I start to calm down.

I pull away from him and he looks at me like he's expecting me to start up again.

"What the hell brought that on, woman," he says. I let out a wet chuckle and wipe my eyes.

"I just remembered out late night talks and got upset I guess," I say.

"Hormones do that," I hear Glenn say across he room. I left my head only to see he's laying down holding Maggie with his eyes closed.

"How many are awake right now," I ask quietly. I notice Abraham's leg jerk. Glenn raises his hand then drops it back over Maggie. Tara pops an eye open and then closes it. I notice Rick is perfectly still, which means he's probably awake. I drop my head with a thud. "Great," I mutter.

"Don't worry about it," Tara says.

Daryl and I lay in silence for awhile. My eyes are getting heavy from the crying. Then Daryl puts his lips on my ear. He doesn't want anyone to hear him.

"I don't know why you ever think you would fail as a mom. I see you succeed everyday. Gracie is growing up, but that's proof that you're doing something right. I know you're worried. I am too. When I thought you were gone," he pauses and breathes out harshly. "I can't go through that again. Something broke and I didn't care if I died. The only thing I cared about was getting Gracie to safety and then I was planning on leaving. Even knowing that you would hate me for leaving her. I'm scared every time I can't see you. I'm afraid that it wasn't real. That we didn't save you from Grady. That you were killed at Terminus. Then I look down at that ring and I calm down a little, or I hear Gracie start talking to you. I miss it too, but as long as I have you and Gracie…I'm okay."

He pulls his head away from my ear and kisses me quickly. Then he turns me around so I'm facing Gracie and he curls around me. I put my hand over his and I smile closing my eyes.

"Told you can be romantic when you wanted," I whisper.

"Stop it," he says squeezing me slightly and then relaxing his hold. "Go to sleep."

The next day we all wake up and takes turns going to the bathroom and getting ready. I find a pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt. I keep the braid I put in my hair last night. I find Gracie a pair of pink cotton shorts and a floral shirt that matched. I rebraid her hair as some of it came undone in her tossing and turning last night. After that we, Gracie and I, step out on the porch to see Daryl there sitting on the porch rail. He clearly hasn't showered yet.

I feel someone brush up behind me and see Carol. She looks at Daryl then looks at me and shakes her head. I smile and gesture for her to continue. Daryl looks up then and snorts a t Carol's over the top pta inspired outfit.

"I'm off to meet the neighbors," she says. I lean against the door frame holding Gracie's hand and just watch.

"Good luck with that," he says fiddling with his crossbow.

"Have you even showered," she asks. He nods sticking his tongue out slightly in concentration on his bow. I have to smile because now I know where Gracie got it.

"Take a shower. And we'll wash that vest. We all need to keep up appearances even you," she says walking down the steps. Daryl watches her for a minute.

"You look ridiculous," he calls out. She waves her hand letting him now she heard and didn't care. I crack up. He snaps his head at me.

"You could have backed me up," he says.

"Yeah, no. I agree with her. Take a shower. I'll wash your beloved vest," I say. Reaching my hand out for it.

"What, now," he asks.

"No time like the present," I say and I look down at Gracie to see she's not paying attention to us. Instead she's studying all the houses. I lower my voice anyway. "Besides, if you do this now, maybe later we can get some privacy. But, only if you shower. A girl has to have standards you know."

I smile as he half heartedly glares at me. He slowly shrugs his vest off and hands it to me. My smile gets bigger.

"Thank you," I nearly sing at him. He grunts and goes back into the house. I look at Gracie who is staring at the vest in my hand.

"And that's how its done," I say to her. She cocks an eyebrow up and looks back at the vest.

"That's D-role's," she says pointing at it.

"Yep, I'm washing it," I say. I look at the thing and realize I have no idea how to clean it. So decide I'll ask Carol later tonight.

Daryl comes out a later, clean. I notice he found a dark button up shirt, he ripped the sleeves off already, and a pair of jeans. He sees his vest on the rail and darts for it before I can block him. He looks at me like he's gloating and shrugs it on. I shake my head.

"That almost defeats the purpose of showering," I say. I called Gracie over to us. While we were waiting I had let her play in the grass. She comes running back and we head down the steps.

"That's what I was trying to say," Daryl says.

"I said almost," I say looking up at him and smiling.

We reach the gate and notice Glenn having in argument with some guy and Nicolas lurking behind him. Daryl puts his arm out blocking me. He doesn't need to tell me to stay. I already know. I hold Gracie's hand and pull her closer.

He creeps along the wall and then the guy takes a swing at Glenn. Glenn ducks and swings back knocking him on his ass. Then Daryl tackles Nicolas and starts hitting him. Rick and Carl comes in though the gate. Rick runs over and pulls Daryl off. I catch him saying something like 'not now' and then Daryl calms down. Michonne puts her foot on the guy Glenn punched.

"You want to get knocked on your ass again? Then stay down," she says. Deanna runs in.

"That's enough," she yells. I walk over to Daryl. I'm carrying Gracie now. I'm slightly behind him and he moves in front of me. Keeping me from view. I expect to get thrown out, but instead Deanna thanks Glenn. I guess the guy he punched is her son. Then she makes the announcement of making Rick and Michonne cops.

Later that night, Daryl and I were able to get someone to watch Gracie and wee snuck into the other house to the attic. We're both laying there spent. I have my head on his chest and he's lazily tracing my spine. Then I think about earlier. I lift up slightly and look at him.

"What did Rick mean when he said 'not now,'" I say. He gets a shifty look on his face. I sit up further. "What aren't you telling me Daryl?"

Authors note: Okay, I understand if you don't like this chapter its basically a super long filler and I'm sorry about that. But in all fairness not much happened in the actual show either. I seemed to get a lot more reviews and follows on my last chapter. Which I'm both excited and terrified of. On one hand more people reading and on the other more people reading. I hope I don't disappoint anyone. Anyway thanks everybody for the reviews and follows. Oh and I know Katie seemed out of sort and it may seem stupid to have sex after the spotting thing, but I just shrugged my shoulders and said ehh well. Hey they went awhile since before she got sick at the prison. I literally had to write everyone down in the group because there's so many. I'm going to try to make them all relevant to the story, but I'm not writing eighteen names over and over. So if I don't go out of my way to put names down and just say 'the group' know its everybody. This authors note is getting long. Anyway leave a review if you can please! Thank you all for the reviews and again sorry for the boring chapter!


	25. Chapter 25

Hello one and all. I have been trying to update Joslyn Grimes which is why I haven't posted in a bit, but alas she is being difficult. So, I'm giving her the silent treatment, again. I posted a new story if you guys want to check it out. I'm so so sorry. I have so many stories tumbling in my head. Theres a Harry Potter story that's trying desperately to come out, but I'm shoving it back down. I started a twilight story that wouldn't shut up and now it's strangely quiet. On top of taking online classes and changing jobs, I'll admit I was procrastinating and I'm sorry. Please don't hate me. Oh and also can we admit that season 5 was slow and half of it was Rick battling himself and the rando love interest, Jessie. So, for that reason we might be skipping around here.

 **Katie's pic**

 **Chapter 25**

I stare harder at Daryl and he finally raises up on one elbow. I study his face and he sighs rubbing his hand across his mouth.

"Rick, Carol and I have a backup plan in case this all falls through," he says lowly. I sit up further and look at him confused.

"What do you mean? What backup plan," I say.

"We wanted everyone to try to make it work, but in case it doesn't we have a plan. So we can stay safe," he says putting a hand on my belly. I push it off and stare at him ignoring the hurt look on his face.

"Ok and why didn't you tell me? How long have you had it," I ask. He gets a guilty look on his face. "Oh, I see. You've had it since the beginning. That's why Carol acted all weird with the guns. Why didn't you tell me," I say staring at him and trying to push my own hurt down. He's sitting up fully now.

"I didn't want to worry you and I was worried you might-" he trails off. I look away and stare straight at the wall for a little bit.

"I see," I say trying to keep the emotion out of my voice. I'm surprised by how flat it sounded. "Well I guess promises mean nothing to you." I get up and start dressing.

"Katie," he goes to reach for me and again I pull away.

"Don't 'Katie' me Daryl," I say snapping my jeans out and pulling them up. "You didn't tell me because you were afraid I might say something? Although I some how managed NOT to tell Deanna about Carol and her little helpless act," I say sneering getting angrier the more I thought about it. I finish putting on my pants and reach for my shirt. "And I would just like to point out no one else questioned it either. Do you know how scared I was about telling you I was pregnant, much less with twins? Do you know how much I didn't want to 'worry' you with the spotting? But did I keep it from you? No! We made a promise! We don't keep things from each other and you broke it! Is there anything else I need to know," I say while pulling my shoes on. I see Daryl struggling to get dressed as well.

"Look you even said it yourself about you thinking you said too much. I was just trying to keep us safe," he's hopping around trying to get a shoe on. I'm fully dressed. I stare at him a minute and he seems to realize he made a mistake because he freezes. "Kat-"

"Fuck you Daryl Dixon," I shout then turn and sprint out the door slamming it on my way. I run down the stairs and slam the front door as well. I hear him calling me, but I keep running to the other house. I see Rick wearing a police officer uniform and Carol in her cardigan standing on the porch staring at me.

"Perfect," I mutter sarcastically. "He's all yours," I throw out as I walk by.

"Katie, damnit! Would you just listen," Daryl calls out. I walk into the house and hear Carol ask what was going on, but I ignore her. I turn my head and see Gracie and Tara sitting on the floor by the coffee table coloring.

"Gracie come on," I say trying to keep any anger out of my voice. She runs over and I swoop her up. I notice when I stormed in Abraham and Michonne stood up ready to fight if they needed to.

"Katie what's wrong," Tara asks. I just go up the stairs. I hear the front door open, but I already reached the landing. I go into the first bedroom I see and slam the door locking it. Theres a corner of my brain that knows I'm overreacting but the hurt part is drowning it out. Daryl is immediately there knocking on the door.

"Katie open up," he rasps out. I set Gracie on the bed. Her eyes are wide and scared. I kiss her forehead.

"We're going to sleep in here tonight. Ok," I say in a hushed tone. She nods her head.

"Is D-role staying too," she asks her bottom lip trembling a little. I close my eyes and sigh.

"No. Not tonight. He's in timeout," I say trying to calm her down. She stares at me a second the scared look vanishing and being replaced with a curious one.

"What he do momma," she asks holding her hands out as if I'm going to hand the answer to her. I smile a little mulling over what I should tell her.

"He told a fib and that isn't nice. So, he's in timeout," I say. Her little nose scrunches up and she shakes her head and then puts her hand on her forehead and rubs it. It mildly reminds me of Daryl and I have to look away.

"Oh no," she sighs heavily and looks up. "Ok momma." It's hard to hold on to my anger when I have her little face staring at me. Then I hear Daryl knocking on the door. He's not banging on it and I appreciate him not scaring Gracie, like I did.

"Come on Gracie lets get ready for bed," I say ignoring him.

"Katie I'm sorry. Just talk to me please," I hear him say. The pain in his voice almost does me in, but I ignore it.

"He said sorry," Gracie whispers to me. I look at her and turn the light off. We climb in bed and I curl around her.

"Sometimes sorry doesn't work," I whisper. I hear a slap on the door and then it goes quiet and I fall asleep.

I wake up choking on a sob a few hours later. My hands move to find Daryl, but he's not there and I sit up thinking my dream was real. Then I remember where I am. I lay back in bed and think for awhile. I replay my dream in my head.

I was at the prison and I was standing by Herschel watching Gracie and Daryl play in the field. All of a sudden there's a storm Herschel is gone and I hear Daryl screaming for me. I try to follow it, but Sasha is there telling me he lied and I need to leave with her. I try to talk but I'm incapable. When I turned around, Daryl and Gracie were being torn apart by the man and woman I killed at Terminus. Joan is there telling me I owe her. That's when I woke up.

I try to tell myself it wasn't real, but there's no point in trying to go back to sleep. Those images haunt me. I realize I need to pee anyway. So I get up and tiptoe to the door. I don't want to wake Gracie. I slowly open the door and if my eyes hadn't adjusted to the dark already I would have tripped over the body that was sitting at the bottom of the doorway.

I slide down and lean against the wall staring at his face and I notice his breathing isn't like someone who is asleep.

"How long have you been awake," I whisper. He opens his eyes but doesn't move anywhere else.

"Since you cried out," his voice is rough from sleep.

"I cried out," I ask worried someone else might have heard. I look back at Gracie and wonder how she didn't wake up.

"It wasn't very loud. I'm just a light sleeper," he says reassuring me. "And it was my name you said." I look back at him. All the anger I felt earlier is gone and now I'm left feeling embarrassed and hurt.

"You didn't have to sleep in the doorway," I say. He looks away from me.

"Yeah, I did," he whispers. He starts twisting his wedding ring around. "I can't sleep away from you anyway."

"I'm sorry," I say. Not sure what else I could say. He waves his hand and brings it to his mouth.

"No need. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I'm worried about the babies and I figured the less stress the better. If you thought this place was safe, then you would relax and everything would be ok. I didn't tell you, not because I thought you would tell anyone. I know you can keep things to yourself. It was because I didn't want to. I wanted you to feel safe, to believe in this place, to stop worrying about everything. I know it was stupid. I just wanted you to feel like you did at the prison. I'm sorry I kept it from you."

I sigh and lean my head back against the wall.

"I understand why you did it. I'm sorry I got so mad. I don't even know why. I think I got a little jealous, as stupid as that sounds. It was like you were making these plans without me, almost like you were cheating on me or something," I say looking away embarrassed. He cups my face turning my head to look at him again.

"That wouldn't ever happen. You know that right," he says. His face is a few inches away from mine.

"No, I know. I'm not explaining it right. It was just this anger for everything that's happened to us came over me and you were the outlet. I'm not saying you lying to me didn't deserve my anger, because it totally did," I say glaring at him. He just keeps staring at me with his earnest expression. "But I do think I went a bit overboard," I admit. His thumb rubs my cheek.

"Am I forgiven then," he asks. I roll my eyes.

"Yeah," I say. No sooner did I say the word than he's yanking me forward roughly and kissing me. I kiss him back until we both need to pull apart to breathe.

"A new promise," he breathes out harshly. "No locked doors between us. Ever. It was hell. You're not the only one with nightmares. I'm not sleeping way from you again. If you're pissed at me ok then be pissed, but I will be sleeping right beside you. I hate not being able to see you."

I nod my head in agreement. Daryl stands up and helps me up. Then he leads me into the room closing the door and we climb in the bed. Gracie was sleeping in the middle so I gently move her over and curl around her. Daryl crawls in behind me and pulls me tight against him. He kisses the back of head.

"Night," he mutters. I start to close my eyes, but then they snap open.

"Damnit," I whisper.

"What," Daryl grunts out.

"I got up to go pee," I say throwing his arm off me and crawling over him to get out of bed. I hear him chuckle and intentionally dig my elbow in his stomach.

"Hey," he grunts in pain.

When I get back he's out like a light. He's scooted over towards the middle close to Gracie. So, I slide in behind him and curl into his back. I fall into a dreamless sleep.

When I wake up Daryl has his arms wrapped around me. I peak over his shoulder to see Gracie, but she's gone. I jerk up, but Daryl pulls me back down.

"Tara offered to watch her. Figured we needed sleep. Little shit was awake before the sun came up," he mutters. I relax and he settles back around me.

"Don't talk about your daughter like that," I say smiling. He freezes around me and then relaxes.

"Huh, guess I never said the word before," he grumbles out.

"Get used to it. She's yours as much as she's mine," I say pressing my nose into the hollow of his throat.

"Jesus woman! I never understand how you get so cold," he says, but he pulls the blanket up over our heads. I giggle feeling like a kid building forts, but the look in his eyes makes me feel anything but childish. His hands slowly move. "I can warm ya up," he says. I don't know who kisses who first.

"We'll have to be quiet," I gasp out. "And the door," I say throwing a concerned look over my shoulder.

"Locked it after Gracie went with Tara," Daryl says while pulling my shirt over my head. He undoes my jeans and I shimmy out of them.

"God, I hate sleeping in jeans. Remind me not to do that again," I huff out. He lays on top of me, keeping his weight on his elbows, and stares at me with a serious expression. I put my hand on his cheek.

"Kate, baby," he says kissing my palm.

"Yes," I whisper. He leans down into my ear.

"Don't sleep in jeans again," he whispers. I bust up laughing.

"Shut up," I say hitting his arm. Then suddenly neither of us are laughing.

Afterwards Daryl and I lay there seemingly studying each other's faces.

"I don't want to leave this bed, but I think its time to get up now," I whisper. Before Daryl can say anything theres a loud bang on the door.

"She's already carrying your bun in the oven no need to be thorough about it," Abraham says. "C'mon we have shit to get done."

"We get it. That's your room. You don't have to mark your territory," Glenn says laughing. Daryl picks up a book off the bedside table and chucks it at the door. I laugh. Daryl flops his head back.

"They're going to make my life miserable," he mutters and he looks over at me. "It was worth it though."

We get dressed and head down stairs. I rifle through the clothes in the basket and find something to change into. I find Gracie some clothes as well.

"No need. I helped her get changed already," Tara says.

"Oh thank you. You didn't have too," I say putting the clothes back in the basket.

"Its no problem. She reminds me of my niece," she says sadly. I put my hand on her arm.

"I'm sorry," I say. She shakes her head and smiles.

"I'm fine. Do you want to go shower? I can watch her while you do," she says, back to her happy self.

"Are you saying I stink," I say jokingly.

"Not stink necessarily, but definitely have an odeur of Daryl musk," she says cracking up. My mouth falls open. She walks away before I can say anything. Daryl brushes by me.

"I happen to like it," he mutters as he walks by.

"You would," I say. "I'm taking a shower. Tara has Gracie." He nods his head and continues to the kitchen. I turn toward the bathroom and see Noah and Beth spring apart. I stop and raise my eyebrow trying not to smile.

"Oh its just Katie," Beth says relaxing. Noah looks embarrassed though.

"Beth you know you are allowed to have a boyfriend," I say and start walking towards the bathroom door.

"I know its just Maggie and Glenn," she pauses. "And Daryl. Rick. All of them really." I chuckle.

"Beth, they have no leg to stand on. They want you to be happy," I say. I start to close the door and stop and open it wider. "And safe. Happy and safe." I look between both of them and notice Noah blushing and Beth looks away. I smile and close the door.

I start to undo my braid, which was already somewhat undone do to last nights activity and this mornings. I blush at the sight. If there was someone who didn't know what we were doing before, they knew now. I started slowly working all the tangles out. I think I need to ask Carol to cut it again, but shorter this time.

After I had taken my shower and brushed my hair out again, I decided to go find Carol. I step out of the bathroom and pad barefoot to the kitchen. I see Rick, Abraham, Carol and Daryl sitting at the dining room table. Gracie is sitting in Daryl's lap resting her head in her hands looking thoroughly bored. Daryl notices me first, but doesn't say anything. Gracie notices me and sits up straight.

"Momma, D-role's being mean," she screeches. I go around the table and stand behind Daryl's chair.

"How is he being mean," I say. I nonchalantly run my fingers along the back of Daryl's neck as I put my hand on the top of the chair. He leans back resting his head on my hand. Quietly letting each other know we support each other.

"He says I'm in timeout," Gracie says turning around to look at me her eyes wide pleading innocence. "I didn't do nothing!"

Everyone at the table is looking at us. Rick has a hand over his mouth hiding a smile.

"That doesn't sound fair," I say. Gracie nods her head really fast.

"He needs timeout for fibbing," she says pointing.

"Daryl," I say.

"She hid from Tara and had everyone panicked. Carol found her hiding under the bed. If she was missing for any longer we were going to get you. She wouldn't come out no matter how many times we called her name," Daryl says. "We even said no more hiding."

I look at Gracie who looks embarrassed and mad.

"I was just playing momma," she says and her bottom lip starts quivering. Her eyes well up with tears.

"It's not nice to play a game if no one knows you are playing. Everybody was worried," I say in stern voice. That's when the floodgates open. She buries her head in Daryl's chest.

"I'm sorry," she wails. Daryl looks at me panicking. He slowly starts patting her back unsure if it's the right move.

"What time did she wake up," I ask Daryl.

"Early. I was up with her for a couple hours till Tara woke up and volunteered to watch her," he says. She slowly settles down. She's not asleep but she's calm and relaxed leaning against Daryl. I shake my head not really knowing what's gotten into her lately. I run my fingers in her hair.

"What's up with the little get together," I ask.

"Trying to figure out who's staying where. We figure you already claimed your room," Abraham says. I ignore the last part.

"We're using the other house now," I ask Rick.

"Yeah I think its safe," Rick says looking me straight in the eyes. I nod my head to let him know I understood what he was actually saying, but the way Daryl stiffened slightly I knew there was more to it.

"Carol do you mind cutting my hair again," I ask to change the subject.

"There's a woman named Jessie that used to cut hair. She might be able to do it for you," Rick says.

"That might be better," Carol says. "It shows the locals we are trying to fit in."

I look at her and she quickly looks away.

"I'll show you where she lives," Rick says standing up.

"Oh so right now," I say straightening up.

"No time like the present," he says looking me right in the eyes. "Daryl can watch Gracie."

Daryl kind of stiffens up a bit.

"I got her," he says staring at Rick, but Rick didn't look away from me.

"It's alright Daryl. Stay watch Gracie," I say dropping a kiss on the top of his head. I follow Rick out the door closing it behind me.

Rick and I walk in silence for a little bit in step with each other.

"I'm sorry," he finally says. "I told them not to tell the others about our plan. I didn't want to burden anyone else. Everybody needs this to work so much and I want it to, but I have my doubts."

I look over at Rick dressed in his uniform.

"That's bullshit," I say. Rick looks shocked for a moment and before he can recover I press on. "Everyone is still on edge. This place is new. These people are new and haven't gained our trust yet. No one would have faulted you for being wary or having a backup plan in case this place doesn't pan out, but they are going to be pissed when they find out you are doing it behind their back. And if you think they aren't already on to terminator Carol and her helpless act you are sadly mistaken. Is this the house," I ask pointing to the house with the garage door open and some weird statue in it. Theres a blonde woman standing there working on it. Rick nods his head still processing what I said.

"Ok I can find home from here. I'm not that helpless. And Rick I may not know what it is you have planned, but I do know you need to start accepting the fact that we all love you and respect you. We will follow you, but you won't let you stray either. Trust us like we trust you," I say and kiss his cheek. "And if you ever make my husband lie to me again I will make sure Judith will be your last child." I smile and walk over to the garage.

This place is going to take some getting used to and its going to be even longer before we are comfortable with these strangers, but I'm hopeful it will work. It just takes time and effort. So, I'll try and make connections with these new people.

"Hi, Jessie right," I ask. " I heard you cut hair and I was wondering if you had some time."

The woman smiles and nods her head.

"Follow me," she says.

"I'm Katie by the way."

Authors note: guys please don't hate me. I'm almost done with classes and then I will be able to write more. I have also being holding this for a long time because for as long as you guys have waited I thought you deserved better but I'm so far a head in this story in my mind and its becoming hard to catch up. I hope you guys don't hate it. I feel like the last part is so out of character. Anyway I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry. And I'm sorry if this chapter sucks a big one.


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